Kirisaki Awakening
by Zero-tan
Summary: Join the students of Kirisaki Academy's own Class 1-A as they embark on the long and arduous journey that is the goal of becoming a Pro-Hero! Faced with multiple trials and challenges, a mysterious enemy that threatens to overtake society soon makes them realize that School Life and Training Exercises are the least of their issues.
1. 1 - Mad Kid Crazy City

**Hi guys. Thanks for checking this story out, I'm really excited to get things started. You can find the OC Form as well as the rules and other information on my Profile Page.**

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It was almost the middle of the night. The time of day where a young teenager should have no business being out in the street. Yet, there he was.

The crowded streets of downtown Yokohama bustled with activity. Illuminated by colorful sign lights and surrounded by tall, cramped buildings on every direction, waves of people flowed in every direction. It was a Saturday night after all, the perfect time for people to de-stress after a long week of work. The noise of chatter, music and entertainment drowned out even the boy's own thoughts, and yet again, there he was. But perhaps that was his intention all along.

Hands buried deep inside the pockets of his denim jacket, his face partially hidden by a mint-colored hoodie and a red scarf, the boy calmly weaved through the crowds of people. It was a cold November night, but the human heat of the streets made it almost uncomfortably warm. The boy didn't seem to care though, and aimlessly wandered through the streets. Where almost everyone else was merrily partying with their friends, he was alone and distant. It wasn't fear of being talked to or some social insecurity, he just didn't care about anything going on around him.

Street vendors and other such individuals approached him every once in a while, but were soon discouraged. Some by his age, but most by the piercing grey eyes that instinctively told them to stay away. Someone tried to report him to a nearby police officer, arguing that a kid his age shouldn't be allowed into this part of the city at this time of the night, but it was too late. By the time the officer turned towards the direction the man was pointing at, the boy had already disappeared. He had slid into one of the many side streets connecting with the main road, and kept walking.

Even though he wasn't paying much attention, he quickly noticed that the smaller street was vastly different from the other one. No streetlights or neon signs to illuminate it, the dank smell of it made it feel more like an alley than an actual street. He had left the white noise of the city's activity behind him, and entered into what felt like a completely different realm. He felt the cold of the night slowly starting to overtake his body, and though he couldn't pick up any movement in the dark path, so did the feeling that he wasn't alone.

His suspicions were swiftly confirmed, as several pairs of footsteps shuffled behind him. He couldn't count exactly how many of them there were, but one thing was for sure, one of them was much heavier than the rest.

"Oh? What do we have here?" As the lighter footsteps surrounded him from all around, the heaviest of them all made its way in front of him. They -and the coarse voice that had called out to him- belonged to a massive man. He towered over the perfectly still boy, with thick dark skin and two long horns protruding from his prominent forehead which added even more to his height.

One of the men standing behind the boy stepped up and pulled his hood down, revealing his snowy white hair. The spiky hair fell as icicles on the sides of his head, and parted to either side in the middle of his hairline. He held a neutral expression on his face, which -together with his age- upset the horned thug.

"A kid!?" He exclaimed, provoking all sorts of shocked looks from his companions.

"Boss!" One of them began, "Yous said we'd be jumpin' the drunk 'uns who wandered in 'ere, you ain't said nothin' bout no damn kids!"

"Hey man" Another continued, "It could still be fun. When was the last time you bet random kid up?"

"Hey, kid, aren't you gonna say something, or did you shit yourself already!?"

The men laughed, upsetting their boss. The horned man looked visibly frustrated. He angrily demanded that his associates shut up, but their laughter echoed loudly through the empty street. Finally, the young teenager spoke up.

"lame…" He muttered, barely loud enough to be picked up amid the men's laughter. However, he did cause them to stop.

"What did ya' say!?" One of the men standing closest to him said.

All of the sudden, the teenager stared straight at the man in front of him.

"I said you are lame. What kind of third-rate bullies stand around waiting for some drunk guy to come shambling their way?" His voice was calm and neutral, showing not even a hint of fear. He might have even come across as defiant, in fact, which upset the horned man even more.

"W-What did you say!?" The thug standing to his right moved to take a hold of his arm, which was still resting on his jacket's pocket. The white-haired boy didn't make an attempt to move out of the way, and instead let the man take a hold of it. But as soon as the man pulled his arm out of his pocket, he quickly twisted it around and took a hold of the thug's wrist. From his pale, slender fingers, a layer of frost formed around the man's limb. It quickly spread to cover the entirety of the appendage, effectively freezing his arm all the way up to the shoulder.

The man panicked and shrieked in pain. The cold ice cut off all movement and feeling from his limb, and its weight threw him out of balance. He stumbled, tripping over a trash can and falling on his behind, all the while crying for help. His associates, however, were none too keen as they instinctively stepped away from the young teenager.

"Oi, Oi, Oi! That kid froze his damn arm!" One of the thugs, carrying a long pipe as a weapon, called out.

"So what!? He can't freeze all of us!" Finally deciding to act, the horned mammoth of a man took a step forward. "Beat his ass up!"

Hesitant, the rest of the armed thugs let out a deafening rallying cry that drowned the shrieking man's screams. One of the thugs turned part of his skin into stone, encasing himself in a protective armor. Another one's fingernails grew into sharp claws, like a raptor's. Others merely held their weapons, pipes, and bats, and knives, at the ready. Their leader, as his appearance would imply, charged at the white haired boy horns-first. All of them, however, had acted upon an incorrect assumption.

Like a snowstorm exploding in an enclosed space, the air in the lonely street froze around the young man. With gusts of impossibly cold wind, the area surrounding him was covered in frost and ice. The thugs, which had all leapt forward to strike, were pushed back and stuck violently against the walls of the surrounding buildings, which were all covered in thick layers of solid ice. All it took was for him to direct the action with his hand, and suddenly every single one of the assaulters was immobilized and rendered unconscious from the shock.

But even colder than the ice that had covered almost the entire street was the young man's glare. His dark grey orbs eyed the men with contempt and disdain. _Just how many people have these men hurt? _He asked himself. He had managed to stop himself from inflicting any fatal damage or permanent injuries upon their bodies, but he wasn't sure he should have. This realization once again stirred great conflict inside his mind and he felt himself sighing. His breath condensed immediately, as he was brought back to reality by the stinging pain in his right arm.

He looked at his hand, which was covered in frost. Or more accurately, his skin had begun to freeze and turn into frost. He couldn't see it, but the patches of frozen skin extended down to his forearm. He clenched his fist and felt a stinging pain that he was all too familiar with by now. The toll his gift took over his body was a weighty one. With no means of heating himself up, his skin and flesh were free to freeze under his own power.

"Shirou-kun!" An elderly voice weakly shouted from behind him. The youth groaned, he was busted.

The boy turned to face several men wearing dark suits, led by a seemingly frail old man clad in an expensive tuxedo. His name was Miyamoto Hayao, a servant of the Fubuki Family. The large suit-wearing men were completely cold and neutral, while the elderly man held a worried and almost frightened expression on his face. He rushed over to the boy, trying not to slip on the ice covering the ground, and held him by the shoulders. He was a bit taller than the boy, but not even by a full head.

"Shirou-kun! W-what have you done!?" The old man overlooked the scene. The unconscious bodies of the thugs stuck to the walls, the ice covering them and the street. The air in the street was as cold as the grave, causing some of the bodyguards to start shivering uncontrollably not too long after entering the street.

The white haired boy, Shirou, avoided the manservant's gaze. He knew very well that he had done something terrible, but was too prideful to admit it. In response to his young master's silence, the elderly man took his arm and lifted his sleeve. He gasped at the boy's frozen skin. He knew very well that the young man's biology was better adapted to deal with cold temperatures, but he still felt horrified at the sight of it.

"I was just defending myself..." The boy muttered.

"If Fubuki-sama finds out about this-"

"What?" Shirou cut the old man off, "He'll ground me again? I'm already grounded. What does a _double-grounding _even look like?" He yanked his arm away from the old man and buried it inside his pocket once more. He then brushed past the family servant, raising the hood from the mint colored hoodie back over his head.

"You can't keep running away from home, Shirou-kun…" The old man was visibly saddened by the whole situation. As the other employees began work to release the unconscious men from the ice, he once again noticed the unnecessary brutal way in which they had been dealt with.

"Those people don't care about me." He shot a glare back at the old man, just as he had attempted to catch up to him.

"Please don't say that… everyone was really worried about you."

"Yeah, I bet they were." He sighed, "Just think what a tragedy it would be if their investment went missing right before the Entrance Exam."

"Shirou-kun!" The old man raised his voice, startling even the young man in front of him.

"I know it's hard on you, but please, come back home with us. If you talk with your grandfather, I'm sure you can come to an understanding!" The man was as agitated as Shirou had ever seen him.

"The only thing that man understands is his own ideas..." He felt his teeth clenching just at the thought of his grandfather. He called himself a Hero, the founder and principal of Kirisaki Academy. But in Shirou's eyes, he was just another power-hungry tyrant. Tired from the earlier outburst of energy however, Shirou finally began to relent.

"...But I guess I've caused enough trouble already." He continued, looking back at the unconscious men being carried off by his family's other employees. They may have been evil men, but he could have seriously hurt them. And that was his own doing.

"Then…?"

"Yeah, yeah, I'll go back."

He frankly shuddered at the thought of returning to his family's estate. A large prison surrounded by walls and disguised as a traditional Japanese home. Or at least, that's how he saw it.

"But the old man better be around to hear me out when I get there."

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**Yo, thanks for reading. This was just a small prologue to get the ball rolling and introduce my character for this thing, Fubuki Shirou. In terms of time-slot, this prologue takes place not too long prior to Kirisaki Academy's Entrance Exams. So sometime in January, possibly. **

**I really hope you'll consider joining me in this ride. Until next chapter then.**

**Once again, you'll find the Form and all the information you need on my Profile Page. **


	2. 2 - New Beginnings

**So here we are, 10-ish (i think) days since I first started this story. I've been very happy with the attention and reactions it has gotten, it really means a lot to see everyone's comments on there. I know last chapter wasn't anything special, I'm notoriously bad at deciding what to do with introductory chapters so I just kinda went with something that I felt would serve to display the kind of tone the story will have. A bit darker and rougher than the original series, but not so much that it becomes completely different. **

**As far as Shirou goes, a few of you hit the nail right in the head with your guesses about him. I don't want to explicitly state anything about him, it'll all get addressed eventually. And as far as him being edgy, I promise you, he is very aware of it himself lol. I like to think of him as someone who just doesn't know how to be honest with himself. **

**About the Casting, well, that is also almost complete. Unless I decide to do something with a potential Class 1-B, there are really only a handful of spots I haven't decided on. I've started reaching out to people about their characters being accepted, but I seriously suck at organizing stuff so I may have missed informing someone or something like that.**

**At any rate, enough rambling. This should be another short, uneventful one, mainly for exposition purposes. I didn't really explore the setting yet so this serves that purpose.**

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She clutched her paperwork and file folders tightly. Her legs hadn't shaked like this since the first time she walked up those steps all those years ago.

Kirisaki Academy stood tall and proud several miles outside of the city, a dark building with a serious aura about it. It had three tall and wide interconnected towers in a triangular formation, the bridge joining them together right on the middle, forming three letters H. Its design was indeed similar to its mother institution, but the feel couldn't be any more different.

Whereas U.A. was a shining beacon of charisma, Kirisaki was strictly business. The window panels covering the entire structure were tinted a dark color, and the brick road leading to the main entrance was a dark crimson color. The gardens inside of the security wall were minimalistic but elegant, as there were fountains, benches and sidewalks on either side of the path.

And there, standing right in front of the door was a bespectacled young woman wearing a pastel pink sweater and jeans. Her light brown hair was held up in a bun, with bangs falling on top of her forehead and two longer ones to either side of her face. It was the middle of the day and the sun shined bright in the sky, but the school term was still a few weeks away. Yet the quivering woman had been called here for a very specific purpose.

It took all of her might, but she had finally brought herself to leave her car and make her way to the entrance. And now, she stood there, waiting. The pale woman felt sweat running down her forehead as she struggled to calm herself down. _Everything is going to be fine_, she told herself.

After a few more minutes, the dark wooden gate finally creaked open. Despite it being sunny outside, the January air was still chilly. So when the warm air coming from inside the building hit her face, she instinctively recoiled back in response. When she opened her violet eyes again, she was met by the smiling face of another woman.

"Woah, Nanao-chan! It's been so long!" The pink-haired woman grinned brightly. She wore a hero costume consisting of a black one piece-dress that went down to her mid-thighs, white thighs and a red tie. She wore white cuffs around her wrists, and her dress had a white collar and a vertically striped design. The shy woman quickly recognized her as the Hero Stella, one of her Senpai from all those years ago.

"U-uh… yeah." Nanao struggled to maintain eye contact, clutching down on her files even more. Stella was a bit shorter than her, though she herself was only about average in height.

"It's been… some years."

Stella chuckled at the slightly younger woman's blush, "You really haven't changed, have you?"

Though not meant in a hostile way, Nanao couldn't help but feel discomforted by her comment. However, the pink-haired hero moved on from it just as fast as she turned around and started walking inside.

"Come on, the boss is waiting for you!"

Nanao nodded meekly and hurried inside after her. Having someone who knew her from so long ago around made her feel even more self-conscious, but she resisted the urge to keep her eyes glued to her feet as she walked. Kirisaki Academy's entrance was just as she remembered it, elegant and pristine. It felt more like the lobby of an expensive hotel than a typical school entrance, but there were still many rows of wooden shoe lockers lining the sides of the room.

As much as she felt the need to wait a moment and reminisce about her time as a student in Kirisaki, the long pink-haired hero waited for noone and kept a fast walking pace. She led them into the Academy's main hallway, which connected the triangular building's many facilities and linked the three towers together at the bottom. The floor was made up of clean, white marble tiles, with darker gray tiles near the edges where the floor met with the blueish gray walls. Tall window panels surrounded the entire inside of the walls, which could be easily seen through despite being almost pitch black from the outside.

As the pair walked past the entrance to the cafeteria, Nanao noted that despite not a single soul being in sight, the place was as perfectly maintained as she remembered. Of course, everything had been modernized quite a bit since she last walked through those halls.

Finally reaching an elevator on the south end of the building, the tip of the pyramid so to speak, Stella turned back around. Nanao was once again startled by that shining grin of hers, yelping as she jumped back several paces.

Stella laughed, "Now, now. Nobody here is gonna bite you!"

"R-right…" Nanao adjusted her glasses, which had almost fallen off. She suddenly became aware of how disheveled her hair was and how informal her attire must have seemed. She had really been on autopilot that morning, everything went by in a daze because of how stressed she was.

"Principal Fubuki is waiting for you in the top floor," She pressed the button on the wall next to the elevator, and it's metal doors promptly opened, "He's been looking forward to seeing you again, the old softie is!"

Stella smiled, but it did nothing to comfort the still hesitant Nanao. She had trouble sleeping the night before just from the thoughts of seeing the Principal again, it could be seen in the small dark bags under her eyes. They contrasted against her somewhat pale skin, making her seem much more sleep deprived than she actually was. Everything was moving so quickly for her, from getting the call, to moving back to the city and now being here… where it all began all those years ago.

Nanao gulped and nodded, stepping past the carefree Hero and into the elevator. Even after she had pressed the button to the top floor and the doors started to close, the pink-haired continued to wave her goodbye innocently.

That senpai of hers, she was the one who truly hadn't changed.

The brown-haired woman hugged her papers against her chest, eyes downcast. _This is it. _She thought, no turning back. A sigh escaped her lips as she steeled her resolve. In a matter of seconds, the elevator's thick doors rang open.

That feeling, it brought back memories. As the doors split from each other, a current of suffocating cold air flowed inside the elevator. It was as if the machine had transported her to the south pole. She found her own reaction almost funny, you never did get used to the cold.

After the initial recoil passed, she opened her violet eyes once again. If it weren't for the almost freezing temperature, the Principal's Office would be perfectly ordinary. The floor was covered in a beautiful red carpet, the edges of it lined with a tasteful design inlaid with golden thread. The walls were darker gray than the ones from the hallways, and the ceiling was covered in planks of dark wood. You'd think the room would be dark because of it, but that was entirely not the case. As the entire wall facing the outside of the building was made of a single, massive window panel which allowed the bright sunlight to flood inside the room. There was a moderate amount of furniture inside the large room. Bookcases lined the side walls, spread out a couple of feet away from each other and filled to the brim with books of many different colors and subjects. There were two large green couches in the center of the room, surrounding a long coffee table which was perfectly clean at the moment. And at the end of the room, perfectly lined up with the elevator's entrance, was the Principal's Desk.

It was a massive wooden mass, with piles of files and paperwork spread out on top of it. A small computer monitor was off to one side, and a compact coffee maker off to the other. And on the other side of it, a tall red office chair with a man sitting on it, overlooking the scenery outside his window and scratching his beard with his back turned to Nanao.

The woman stepped inside the room with three long strides, doing her best to simulate confidence.

"T-" She cleared her throat, "Takahashi Nanao, reporting as requested!"

She spoke loud and clear, standing in a firm position and doing her best to control her shivering. A short silence followed, until the man broke it, by chuckling to himself.

"There's no need to be so stiff, Nanao-kun." He spoke with a deep and raspy voice. Even in that half-playful tone, the young woman felt like he almost made the entire building shake with each word.

She watched him lean forward in his chair, powering himself up to his feet with the help of his arms. He was a giant of a man, easily 2 meters tall and strong as a bull even in his 60's.

"Those forms you signed may have given you an idea as to why you are here, but…"

He turned around, and Nanao noted how he hadn't changed since the last time she saw him. Those piercing gray eyes staring right at hers, the slicked back hair and the shortly trimmed beard, both of them white as the winter snow. He had a strong, square chin and prominent features. She felt another chill running down the spine, though this time it wasn't because of the terrible cold emanating from the gargantuan man.

He wore a simple gray suit with a white shirt and a black tie. Not terribly elegant, but just enough to indicate a position of authority.

"Why don't we start from the beginning?" He motioned toward the couches with that large hand of his. Nanao noticed large and jagged scars creeping down from his sleeve and bordering on his wrist, those weren't there before. Taking it as an indication that she wanted her to sit however, she didn't have the will to ask him about them.

The brown haired woman did as asked and slowly sat down on one of the green couches at the center of the room. The large man followed after her, and sat down on the one opposite of hers, across from the long coffee table. He told her to leave the files on the table and that he'd look at them later, which she did.

"I'll go straight to the point" He leant back on the couch, allowing himself into a relaxed position.

"You will work for me." He stated dryly.

Nanao's hands clutched her knees tightly. Yeah, she figured that would be the case. She wasn't one to read thoroughly through forms, but there was no other reason a man like Principal Fubuki Hyoga would have need for her at this stage of her life. She avoided the man's heavy gaze. She felt like running away. The Hero life was a thing of the past now.

"You retired, didn't you?" He asked.

"Y-yeah…" Nanao nodded meekly, still not looking straight at the old man, "About a year ago."

"What happened was… unfortunate" The Principal looked at the empty palm of his hand, as if he were imagining something on it, "But you can still help people."

He closed his hand, making a fist. Nanao finally looked at him in the eye, a faint hope in her violet irises, and the old man smirked.

"I want you to help guide the next generation, Nanao-kun." He said, causing the woman's eyes to widen.

"Every day, more and more villains appear from the shadows, you know this better than most." He continued, "There will come a day when All Might, The Symbol of Peace, won't be here to protect everyone… we need to be ready. Chaos can not prevail!"

"B-but… why me!? I'm just-" She was shaken up. Her short stint had been a failure, or so she believed. She couldn't protect anyone, and nobody would ever want to be protected by her. She was purposeless, a poor excuse of a Hero.

"I wonder why indeed." The man produced a piece of paper folded in half from the inside pocket of his suit jacket. He leant forward and extended his long arm toward Nanao, prompting her to do the same and take the item into her own hands.

"Open it."

Doing as asked, her eyes widened once more. She was met by yet another form, which had been filled with all of her information except for one thing. Her signature.

"You will be Class 1-A's Homeroom Teacher this coming School Year, everything has been taken care of. You will have your own office, a new place to live nearby, the support of the entire staff and all the resources you could ever need."

Nanao was in shock, "1-A, me…?"

Fubuki Hyoga stood back up, taking a pen out from his breast pocket and handing it to the brown haired woman.

"You are the person for the job."

She looked at the pen for a moment, it was freezing cold from being so close to the man's body, but at the same time it felt… warm, in a manner of speaking. She wasn't sure why any of this was happening, but she had to stop running away from the past. What had happened, happened, there was no changing that. But perhaps… this was the new beginning she needed. She signed the form, prompting the Principal to grin.

"You'll definitely have your work cut out for yourself…" He gripped his left wrist with his other hand, feeling the scarred tissue with his fingers.

"If that troublesome brat of mine makes it past the Entrance Exam, that is... "

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**Well, That's it for tonight. **

**This took me way longer to write than it should have, I blame college. **

**Like i said, another pretty short chapter for exposition purposes and with very few characters. But believe me when I tell you that a lot of what was discussed here will become relevant in the future. Principal Fubuki Hyoga and Class 1-A's Homeroom Teacher Takahashi Nanao will be pretty important characters for the overall plot, and both of them certainly have their fair share of individual stories to tell. **

**Fun Fact: Principal Fubuki automatically makes every room he's in around 20 degrees (celsius, so around 60F) colder. This isn't his actual Quirk, however, it's just him being so powerful that everything around him freezes almost instantly if he isn't being careful. He has his coffee maker right on his desk because if it was anywhere else in his office, the coffee would freeze by the time he made it back to his chair. **

**I hope you liked them and the chapter, anyway. I'm closing out the casting soon, there will be another update soon, hopefully with some of you guys' characters this time. **

**Please drop a review and let me know your thoughts on whatever you found interesting. It really makes me happy to see everyone's comments/feedback on there, positive and negative. **


	3. 3 - The Hurdle

**Took my sweet time, didn't I? **

**I'm sorry for the delay, this is long overdue. I got busy with Finals week then Graduation week and after that was done I decided to take a full extra/additional week to rest and unwind after all that was done. **

**So yeah, I probably could have had this ready much sooner, so I deeply apologize to those who were waiting for this.**

**Casting is also done for Class 1-A, but more on that by the end of the chapter. One thing you will notice is that I introduce characters slowly. I'm very much against introducing a bunch of people just for the sake of it unless the story's events require me to. **

**Enjoy!**

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**Chapter 3 - The Hurdle**

**Kirisaki Academy Grounds - **

It was a chilly morning, and all the kids waited outside the Academy's back entrance.

Following a short orientation by members of the staff, the aspiring students were told to change into their athletic clothing and to fetch any of their necessary gear. All the applicants had received details and instructions for the Entrance Exam several weeks in advance, so it wasn't like this was their first time hearing about what was going on. On the back of the academy was a large parking lot, presumably used by the academy's staff and teachers. No vehicles appeared to be on site at the moment however, so the fenced area was occupied mostly by young teenagers and the odd staff member to keep order. Everyone was spread out through the large lot, some in groups -big and small.

Others, were by themselves.

One such teen was the white haired boy whose last name was Fubuki, who leant with his back against the tall red-brick fence at the east side of the lot. He wore a white t-shirt and red track pants with white stripes on the sides, as well as very basic white sneakers. His jacket was casually tied around his waist, as cold weather was not a problem for him as opposed to most people.

His hands were buried inside his pockets, as they usually were, but he wasn't trying hard to look cool or mysterious- His face bore no emotion, but his mind was currently being overloaded with information and stimuli.

His grey eyes darted around from side to side, scouting the crowded parking lot. There must have been at least a few hundred kids in the area. He had never been around anywhere near as many other kids his age. So many people, of so many shapes and sizes and even colors. He had never seen the like.

He wasn't nervous, but he was tense. Or at least that's what he wanted to believe. The sound of chatter and the occasional laughter had him on edge. He couldn't comprehend it. All these people, they were ready and willing to commit their lives to becoming Pro Heroes, and yet… they appeared so... normal?,

"Hey…" Shirou heard a boyish voice call out close to him, uncomfortably close. But it couldn't possibly be directed to him, could it?

"Heeeeey~" The voice continued, this time closer to his left ear. He thought that if he ignored it, it would go away on it's own, so he closed his eyes and sighed.

"Oi," The person in question stepped in front of Shirou, "Ignoring people is reaaaally rude, y'know?".

Finally relenting, he turned his sight toward the bratty voice. And lo and behold, he was greeted by the pouting face of a young man. He stood there hands on hips with a defiant look in his eyes, all 5 feet of him or however tall he was. Shirou was only a bit taller than average, and this boy was… well, more down-to-earth, one could say. His skin was way healthier in tone than the pale Shirou's, and his blue hair was styled in a plain bowl cut. His round blue eyes were full of energy, the sort that the taller teenager found exhausting.

"What is it?" Shirou asked. His tone wasn't particularly biting or dismissive. Only painfully neutral, which the shorter teenager didn't appear to mind.

Pleased, the blue-haired boy smiled, though he quickly gave the taller teen a curious look.

"Ain't you with someone?" He asked,"Most folks around here have a pal or two."

Shirou noticed that the teen's accent wasn't from around the area. He also noticed him lean forward, arms crossed behind his back; He was trying hard to maintain eye contact.

"Well, no." Shirou replied, "Not really."

The blue-haired teen nodded, oddly pleased.

"Do ya' mind if I tag along then? I don't know anybody here either."

The white-haired teen shrugged. It wouldn't be much time before things got going anyway, judging by the sudden ruckus caused by some students on the other end of the parking lot. Feeling the pressure rise, Shirou looked up at the tower overlooking them. He had never been to Kirisaki before despite hearing all about it his whole life, and now his journey was finally about to begin.

Several white buses entered the parking lot from the fields behind the school, parking perfectly parallel to one another right in the middle. Shortly after, an announcement coming from a nearby set of speakers instructed the students to board the vehicles in order to be transported to the Exam's location. The staff present at the parking lot swiftly and efficiently started to organize the aspiring students into single files, leading them into the buses.

"By the way!" The blue-haired boy spoke up, "What's your name?"

"Fubuki." He separated himself from the bricked wall he had been leaning on,"Fubuki Shirou."

In response, the other teenager smiled, getting ready to follow the white-haired teenager into one of the buses.

"And I'm Ishida Souji." He followed the taller teenager's long strides with a slight spring in his step.

"Nice to meet you, Fubuki-san!"

The white-haired teen didn't pay much mind to his newfound companion, and proceeded to patiently wait in line.

The fields behind Kirisaki Academy were vast and green as the caravan of white buses set out back down the hill upon which the school sat. All of the land was owned by a long-time friend of the Academy's founder and principal, who was also one of the institution's main funders and owners. The business magnate's life had apparently been saved by Principal Fubuki decades ago, and therefore claimed to owe a lifetime debt to the former Hero. That debt had materialized as Kirisaki Academy, and all of its many facilities and territories.

One such facility, was the enormous Kirisaki Academy Disaster Simulation Complex- or just the _Simulation Complex_, for short. A technologically advanced cityscape that could be remotely controlled to emulate a large variety of emergency situations. The students piled on top of each other to look outside from the buses' windows, many of them wowed by the sight of the massive facility. It was essentially an entire city center, surrounded by a dark concrete wall dozens of feet tall and at least ten feet wide.

"Woah, It looks so real!" Souji said, his face almost pressed against the bus' window.

Shirou didn't want to show it, but the sight was truly awe-inspiring. It was hard to believe a school would have such a massive construction just to better train its students. For him, it somehow didn't feel like something his grandfather would do.

The vehicles parked next to the simulation complex's entrance, a massive metallic gate, and out came the students. They were instructed to get in formation, specifically in rows, and listen as a lively-looking pink-haired hero addressed them. Shirou -who was on the far end of the rows, next to Souji- noticed that most people were tense as they watched the pretty and youthful lady make her way to the front, but a huge portion of them were eased by her friendly demeanor.

"Good Morning, everyone~" She held a bright smile, the honest kind that not even the best of actors could fake, "My name is Stella, I will be going over some last-minute instructions!"

Some within the students muttered and whispered. They felt that keeping things secret until it was too late to walk away was unprofessional, but Shirou knew better. This was one thing that his grandfather would definitely do and he understood the meaning behind it. Heroes don't get to choose the situations they have to work in. Things are always unpredictable, and something unexpected may happen at any moment. He was sure of it. What seemed to be carelessness from the part of the staff was a planned element in the grand scheme of things.

"As you know, Kirisaki Academy's Entrance Exam is about to begin." She began, with a serious tone. "Both regular students and students under recommendations are required to take it, no exceptions."

That much was true. Shirou himself stood among the rest of the aspiring students, and his grandfather was the Principal. As the Hero continued giving out a basic rundown of the Exam, staff members walked between the rows giving out simple, yet very technological-looking armlets to everyone.

"The devices you are currently receiving will allow us to track your position and monitor your body's signals, among other things, throughout the Exam. The armlets can stretch quite a lot, so don't be afraid to give them a bit of a pull! You could even wear it around your ankle if you wanted~"

Most of the examinees started trying them on, and what Stella said proved to be true. Shirou noticed a pink-skinned girl with massively oversized arms have no issue pulling the device all the way past her elbow. He and Souji, who stood to his left, likewise had no complication with their regular-size arms. As soon as the armlet had been set in the appropriate location however, it clasped itself firmly around his skin and beeped a couple of times. A dim green light lit up in the device, signifying that it had been activated.

Shirou ran a hand through it. The armlet's grip on his upper arms has firm enough to not fall off but wasn't particularly uncomfortable. Physically at least, as the thought of having such a mysterious device bound to his arm gave him a borderline claustrophobic feeling. He could easily get rid of it by freezing it until it became brittle enough to shatter, but still, he had to make do with trying to ignore it. He looked right toward Souji, noticing a similar look of displeasure from the seemingly carefree boy, and most of the people around them for that matter. .

"As all of you know-" Stella began once again, "The simulation complex behind me has been set up with a high amount of mock explosive devices. Some of them out in broad daylight, others hidden inside or in between buildings! Your goal for today is to find these bombs and disable them, which within the context of this simulation exercise means simply to destroy or otherwise incapacitate them. You will gain points according to how many of the bombs you are able to find, destroy, and how you go about it!"

Shirou nodded. It was easy enough to understand, really. Bombs laying around in broad daylight would be easy to destroy in high numbers, while bombs carefully hidden or in places that are difficult to reach would individually be worth more points due to the skill required to locate them. Needless to say, there must have also been several hidden, arbitrary scores such as the amount of collateral damage caused or the time spent per bomb. What seemed to be a dull and simplistic exercise was actually riddled with an unexpected amount of nuanced metrics and evaluations. It wouldn't surprise him if the armlets' real purpose was to measure said statistics.

That's how his grandfather had always been. Hidden meanings behind hidden meanings; twists, turns and deceit. Nothing was every straight-forward.

"That being said…" Stella interrupted his train of thought, "The first part of the exam will be~"

She twirled in place excitedly, almost like a ballerina.

"To get into teams of 4 people!" She grinned, stretching out 4 slender fingers covered by her white glove.

"Of course, this means that the whole team gets points for each bomb they destroy~"

The reaction from the crowd was as expected. Everyone was shocked and in disbelief, they'd weren't informed of this during the orientation. Once again, the rug had been pulled from underneath their feet. _What kind of Entrance Exam is done in teams? _Some cried out. Others were relieved that they wouldn't have to carry the entire weight of the Exam on their own and would be able to rely on their teammates.

Souji turned towards Shirou, "Isn't that great? If we work together, then-"

"There's no way…" The white-haired teen interrupted.

"Eh? What do you mean?" Souji replied, blue eyes fixated on the taller boy's conflicted face.

"There's no way it could be this simple…"

People quickly started to get together. Some immediately went after their friends and acquaintances, others grouped together with the people they had befriended on the parking lot. Some just exchanged nods with the people standing next to them while another portion of individuals went around asking people about their Quirks and abilities in order to assemble the most efficient teams possible. In less than 5 minutes, most people were already in a full team.

Determined to stick with Shirou until the end, Souji went around looking for two more members for their team. A lot of people refused or outright ignored the short and clumsy-looking teen, while his teammate of choice did very little to add to the search. Shirou kept to himself, sulking from a corner like a handful of other reclusive teenagers. After a few moments later however, Souji managed to return to him with two others in tow. A boy and a girl, both taller than the blue-haired teen.

"Um…" The tall boy behind Souji began, scratching the back of his head. He was a full head taller than him, being a couple of inches taller than Shirou himself. He had shortly trimmed black hair and orange eyes like a bird's, having small pupils and an intense stare. A pair of large white wings protruded rather imposingly from his back, but the teenager held a meek stance.

"I'm Koge Hajiro…" He spoke hesitantly, "I guess you are Fubuki-san... right?"

It wasn't exactly shyness or distress, but more like a certain sense of apprehension. Shirou eyed the taller young man judgmentally, but nodded in response. He'd never seen a person with wings before, so at least that was interesting.

The girl standing next to him didn't do much of an effort to introduce herself. She was a slender and tall girl with a ghastly pale appearance and sharp features, complete with long and lush white hair even paler than Shirou's. Like Hajiro's, her eyes were also unnatural, but many times more unsettling. She had golden colored eyes with pupils slit like a reptile's that eyed the rest of the group in a bored and disinterested way.

"Oh, right!" Souji interjected for her, "This is Shiraishi Kirina-san, she'll also be joining us."

"...Not that I have a choice." She muttered while not looking at anyone in particular, hands buried in the pockets of her loose-fitting black track jacket.

"Hm?" Shirou raised an eyebrow, while Hajiro looked at her with concern.

Before anything could escalate, however, Souji stepped in between all of them while waving his arms around.

"Anyhow! It looks like Stella-san is coming back to say something, so let's return to the formation… okay?"

Shirou shrugged, but everyone did seem to momentarily agree with each other. Kirina brushed past the three boys nonchalantly, making her way back to the formation. Souji sighed, somewhat worried, but he went after her and the other two followed quietly. Hajiro's eyes darted back and forth between all of his teammates, and he couldn't help but worry about what he had gotten himself into. Souji appeared to be nice enough, at least. He noticed the shorter boy coughing somewhat painfully into a balled fist, which was both sudden and unexpected. However, his attention was drawn back to the pink-haired hero.

Stella scanned the area, concluding that all teams had been assembled. She nodded, satisfied with the time it had taken the teens to come together.

"Alright!" She said, "And now, please remember to trust and work together with your teammates! Go in there, play nice and have fun~"

The speakers on a nearby pole turned on and a synthesized voice instructed everyone to get ready, as the actual Exam was about to begin. The many groups of aspiring students headed to the massive metal entrance, once again being guided by uniformed members of the staff.

Shirou stretched his stiff arms, trying to get his muscles to loosen up a bit. He had been resting for a few days in preparation for the exam, but the whole event was stressful enough to make him lose appetite and sleep. Not that his sleep schedule was the best as it stood, for that matter. The anticipation had him on edge, but he felt confident. Having to do the Exam in teams was a bother, but he was ready to go through those gigantic metal gates and shut the outside world out. No interference, no grandfather, no family, just him and a simple task.

The complex's entrance slowly creaked open, and Stella declared that the Exam had officially begun. Everyone's armlets beeped a couple of times as if to reaffirm the fact, and the many groups of examinees poured into the mock city to begin their hunt. Most of the teenagers ran past each other, trying to get the jump on the other teams until they managed to spread out in different directions once they went past the gate.

"Well then," Souji began, visibly nervous.

"Let's try to keep up with the others!"

He picked up his pace and ran after the crowd, shortly followed by the rest of his team of misfits.

* * *

**Simulation Complex- **

The exam was simple enough in theory; find the bombs, destroy the bombs. There really wasn't much room for error, at first glance anyway. The devices themselves weren't your typical mass-produced, streamlined placeholders. All of them were different, or at the very least there were a couple dozen different types of them.

Some were as large as a and just lying around out in the middle of the street, made from tough materials and genuinely difficult to destroy. Others were as small as a shoe, hidden somewhere inside the many buildings that lined the downtown and city blocks. Some radiated heat, some radiated light, others vibrated slightly every few seconds. Everything to give people any advantage they could possibly have.

For Tsuta Sousou, it was all mostly silly. Even as the vines sprouting from his fingers slid through one such device's openings and tore it apart from the inside out, he couldn't help but feel like he wanted something… _more. _He had prepared himself for anything, after all.

"Good job, Tsuta-san…" A very short, long-haired young man with tanned skin smiled warmly at him. They had found the bomb inside what they assumed was supposed to be a store at the corner of a city lock.

"If it's something like this…" Sousou smirked, yanking his arm back and watching the decently-sized device collapse into itself, "-There's no way I'd have a hard time doing it."

"Ya-ho! you guys!" A dark skinned young woman walked back inside the store, followed by a tall girl with red hair and patchy skin.

"Ah, Kayo-san, Arakaki-san, you're back." The tan-skinned boy greeted.

Sousou looked at them and nodded, the vines retracting back into his fingers.

"How many does that make, Kurapati-san?" He asked whilst rustling around his pants' front pocket, producing a small white plastic bottle from it.

The extremely short boy, Kurapati Itona, kept a pleasant look on his face as he watched Sousou walk across the room, "That's 6 so far, I'd say we're doing pretty good-"

"Make that 7!" The dark skinned young woman, Kayo Okimi, interrupted with a proud grin, her bright amber eyes shining in excitement.

"Eh? Did you find another one?" Itona asked, calmly.

"You bet we did," The red-haired girl pumped her fist, "Piece of cake!"

Sousou looked at her, Arakaki Rie. She was a bit of a personality, but he could appreciate the way she went about things. This was his first time meeting them but apparently all three of his teammates knew each other from before and it showed in how easy it was for them to work together and communicate. They looked like they were having fun, even. How he hoped he could say the same about himself.

But that sort of trivial thing wasn't important, all that mattered was being the best at what he did.

"But what's the point of this Exam, anyway?" Okimi asked, "What's so complicated about running around blowing these things up?"

Itona pondered on it, "Teamwork and versatility, perhaps? Some of these things are pretty hard to find and destroy."

"But that can't be it," Rie continued, "I've heard rumors about this exam, people seem to think it's horrible… for whatever reason"

"Beats me," Sousou popped open the small white bottle he had been holding and chugged down its contents. Pure white sugar, the kind he needed to stay on tip-top shape when using his Quirk.

"Let's get out of here already, we still have a long way to go."

Okimi nodded and looked outside the window, "Right, it's starting to get more crowded out here."

Most teams had decided to go after the bombs laying out in the middle of the streets, so anything outside of the buildings had become pure chaos. Multiple teams raced each other to see who could destroy the bombs first and sometimes even fought each other, since there was no rule against that.

"As fun as it would be, we'd lose a lot of time if we get caught up in the crossfire and have to fight it out against another team." Sousou walked up to the door leading out and cracked his knuckles, "As soon as I kick the door open, we make a beeline to the next building block, alright?"

The other three nodded and slowly lined up behind him.

Sousou took a deep breath and smirked. He kicked the door open and the group rushed outside, and before anyone could target them.

"Hngh!"

Sousou grunted, and his arms erupted into two large waves of plant life and growing trees that split the street in half and provided cover to his team.

* * *

**Control Room-**

Nanao felt out of place. Up until a couple of weeks ago, she had been a regular young adult leading a normal life. She had managed to get a stable job at a law firm, rented a small apartment for herself and her cat, and most importantly; had just about managed to leave her past behind her.

But now, there she was again, wearing that old white-and-blue Hero Costume of hers. It had been locked under key and forgotten in a box somewhere, but it still fit her exactly the way it did since she put it on for the last time. It was a simple but elegant design, a mostly white bodysuit with a wide blue stripe running down the middle with gray boots and a black utility belt with a silver clasp. A blue cape wrapped itself around her neck like a scarf with her personal silver dragon pin attached to it, same as always.

Only, it didn't _feel _right.

Her eyes scanned the brightly illuminated room from her seat. Large monitor screens and computers lined the walls of the room with many staff members walking back and forth to operate and manage them.

"Examinee #047's vitals appear in order, false alarm!"

"#108 Appears to have suffered a minor injury of sorts, camera footage seems to indicate a twisted ankle; should be able to continue."

"#005 is all over the place, 10 points for his team and counting, but the team score is fairly low."

Nanao sat in the center of the large room in what appeared to be a guest area, and next to her; the man as cold as a glacier. She covered herself with her cape and the room had a heating system in place, but just being near the man made her feel like she was freezing.

Principal Fubuki looked at her with a sly smirk.

"How is it?" He asked.

She had heard things about this place, but students were never allowed in here. She adjusted her eyeglasses and sighed, guess she really worked here now.

"It's amazing… I've never seen anything like this." She replied, avoiding his eyes.

"Ha." The man laughed, "It's gotten bigger over the years, it was only about half of the current size when you took the exam."

Nanao's eyes were suddenly downcast, remembering the experience.

"Is it still the same as before, the second part?"

"No," Principal Fubuki replied, "It's even worse, thanks to a newer staff member."

Nanao's eyes looked at the massive man in disbelief. The principal took out a small phone-like device and dialed a 4 digit code. That was the device the school staff used to communicate with each other, she had been given one as well.

A feminine voice picked up on the other end.

"_Yes?" _The woman's voice could be heard through the device, and Nanao somehow felt like she recognized it.

"Are you ready? It's about time." Principal Fubuki said, powering himself up to his feet.

"_Of course, I told you the preparations were ready earlier didn't I?" _

"You did, but I'm asking if you are in position."

"_The tallest building at the center of the complex, right? Yeah, I'm here already~" _

The memories suddenly came flooding back to Nanao. That confident and mocking tone, she had heard it before. It belonged to the ultimate sadist of a Hero, a reject that was shunned wherever she went. The sort of reject that Principal Fubuki liked to use to his advantage.

"Good, you know what to do." He hung up, and looked over his shoulder at Nanao who had just stood up as well.

"Your grandson is in there, isn't he?" Nanao asked, "Are you sure this is something you want him to go through!?"

Principal Fubuki chuckled and turned to face the largest of the screens, where a top down view of the fake city could be seen. Green dots moved around it, each representing one of the students.

"As Heroes…" He began, a somber look overtaking his face. "We must always be ready to deal with unforeseen situations. We are exposed to stress, pain and despair on a regular basis. There are those who are born with the ability to handle it, and those who are not."

Principal Fubuki shot a last glance at Nanao, who was frozen in place by the intensity of his gray eyes.

"If they are not able to go through this and prevail, they are notKirisaki Academy… no."

He paused for a second, looking back at the monitor screens.

"They are not Hero Material."

* * *

**Simulation Complex- **

"Through here!"

Souji led his group into a small building. Since all the buildings were fake, they were dimly lit and the team could only rely on the light coming through the windows to guide themselves. Though at least half of them didn't seem to have any problems with that.

"Honestly, Ishida-san… Your Quirk is so useful…" Hajiro commented, noticing how the much shorter teenager dexterously felt around the walls and the floor with the palms of his hands.

Souji chuckled, "It's not really that complicated. I just detect all sorts of vibrations and some of the bombs seem to be giving off signals that I can perceive."

He looked down to his feet, "It's nothing flashy at all..."

"Now, now… don't think like that." Hajiro replied.

"That's right." Shirou added, standing a bit behind them, "It's nothing flashy, but we wouldn't have even half as many points as we have without you."

"Fubuki-san…" Though his words appeared to be rude, Souji understood what he meant.

Hajiro looked around, suddenly noticing that they were missing someone.

"Ah crap, I was so focused on the bomb that I didn't notice her running off somewhere!" Souji stood up and put his hand on the wall, trying to feel around for her footsteps. Which proved to be unnecessary, as she poked her head around a corner right in front of them.

"I found the bomb." She said blankly, and then looked straight at Shirou.

"Hurry up Ice-person, I can't get rid of it on my own."

And just like that, she disappeared back into the room she had come from.

_Ice-person, _Shirou repeated in his mind. He quietly followed Kirina to the back room, though he could swear he heard Souji trying not to laugh behind him.

"But…" Hajiro said, "I honestly didn't expect things to go this smoothly... "

Souji nodded, "Leaving aside the ones who made a ruckus out in the streets, I think most competent teams figured out that the best way to go is searching from building to building."

"However…" He continued, "There's something that's been bothering me."

"Huh... what is it?" Hajiro asked.

"You remember how I can feel vibrations? I thought it was weird at first, but now I'm pretty much convinced that the whole Simulation Complex is built over some sort of underground tunnels." Souji said, tapping the floor with his foot a couple of times.

"You mean like sewers?" The taller teenager asked, looking down to the floor as if he could see something.

Souji shook his head, "No. I've felt sewers before and these tunnels don't feel like it, they are somehow… larger?"

"Is there one under us right now?"

"Yeah," Souji said, pausing for a moment to confirm something. "If I stop and think about it, I think every building we've been to so far has been directly underneath one of those tunnels…"

The pair was distracted by Shirou and Kirina returning from the room, seemingly arguing about something.

"You stink." She said to the white-haired teenager whilst covering her nose.

"I'm telling you, it's not me." He replied, and Souji assumed they'd just gotten into another petty argument.

"Then what's that smell? I didn't notice it until you got close." Kirina continued, evidently bothered by a smell that Souji couldn't pick up.

"Not everyone has crazy good snake senses like-"

"Eugh... I think I feel it now." Hajiro covered his nose, recoiling from the smell. Eventually it hit Souji as well, but the short teenager wasn't so quick to be disgusted by it. Instead, he tried to analyze it. It was an organic, sort-of like rotting flesh but not quite stench. It somehow felt artificial, or at least chemical in nature.

"For the last time, it's not me damn it-" Shirou sniffed under his arms and around his shoulders, just to be sure.

Souji's eyes suddenly narrowed, turning everyone's attention toward him.

"What is it?" Hajiro asked.

"I can feel something… It's footsteps, I thin... coming down that hallway..." He pointed to the direction where Shirou and Kirina had just come from, and everyone suddenly tensed up in anticipation. The hallway was dark so nobody could see very well, so they just stood there at the ready.

"It stopped."

"Want me to check it out?" Shirou asked, a freezing aura building up in his hands as he prepared to use his Quirk. At that point, the stench had become almost unbearable. The hypersensitive Kirina covered her nose with both of her hands and asked if she could please leave, clearly being in more discomfort than the three boys.

"No, wait... I think it's... " Souji closed his eyes, focusing his Quirk's sense on the hallway in front of them. And then-

A gray blurr, faster than any of their eyes were prepared to follow. Sudden and unhesitant, it emerged from the shadows and blitzed past the standing teenagers. It went straight for Souji, who stood in the middle of them all. With violent force, a terrible creature tackled the small boy to the ground and pinned him down. Finally exposed to the light coming from the windows, everyone's eyes widened in shock.

It was a wolf-like creature, with grotesque pale and blotchy skin and abnormally proportioned limbs. The smell coming off from it was chemical and organic, a powerful stench belonging to something that could only be half-alive at best. The creature pinned down the blue-haired boy with its powerful paws, and its massive mouth bared line after line of small, hook-like teeth on a large head that had several pairs of malformed eye-like organs.

Souji yelled and struggled as the creature's jaws closed in to his neck, he was terrified and confused. Futilely flailing around under the crushing weight of the creature's body.

"Shit, get out of the way!" Shirou shoved Hajiro to the side and aimed his right hand at the beast. He released a blast of carefully aimed white-cold energy that impacted with enough force to throw it off of Souji and send it flying against a wall, freezing most of its lower half in the process.

The creature shrieked and got back up, seemingly not caring that its hind legs were almost completely frozen and covered in ice.

"W-what is that thing!?" Hajiro asked, trying to process the scene before him. Souji was still on the ground, covered in a drool-like fluid and breathing heavily.

"Kirina, get Souji, now!" Though the stench was terrible enough to make her dizzy, she nodded and dashed toward the shorter boy. With incredible speed, she reached him before the beast could react and got him out of the way.

Pissed off at the white-haired boy, the beast lunged at him. But with nothing standing in his way, Shirou stomped his foot on the floor and a giant wall of ice erupted from it. The creature was impaled by the tidal wave of ice and sent back against the wall, this time completely buried, frozen, and dead.

Shirou fell on his behind, panting. The room was silent, except for the sound of heavy breathing. The silence was suddenly broken, but not by anyone inside. Instead, it was the chilling screams and cries for help coming from outside.

Shirou understood it then, this thing wasn't alone.

"Is he alright?" Shirou asked Kirina, who nodded blankly. Souji was in shock, but conscious enough to ask everyone the same question.

"W-what…" Hajiro started, "What the hell… does this mean?"

"This is part of the Exam…" Shirou said coldly, getting back on his feet, "There's no doubt about it."

"They didn't say anything about this." Kirina replied.

"Of course they didn't say anything… otherwise we'd be expecting it."

"Then…" Souji began, eyes still fixated on the frozen creature.

"They want us to deal with this?" Hajiro interrupted, but it was more of a rhetorical question.

"Guys…" Souji said, "There's more coming."

Shirou turned around to face the hallway, where several more pairs of red eyes stared back at him. They were all variations of the same creature that attacked them before, not perfect replicas. But they all shared the same hunger.

"We have to get out of here." Kirina said, matter-of-factly.

* * *

A lone woman stood atop the tallest building in the fake city, her red hair and dark robe fluttering in the wind. One of the white creatures walked up to her and nuzzled against her leg, which prompted her to pet it.

She smiled at the sounds of chaos and confusion coming from below, taking in a deep breath as if absorbing it for motivation.

"I wonder what sorts of interesting sheep are amongst the flock this year~" She said to no one in particular, almost signing it to herself.

"And…" She continued, "I wonder if there's a wolf or two hiding amongst them…"

"I can't wait to play with them~"

* * *

**Well… that was something.**

**First off, let me say this; Words can't express how happy it makes me to see everyone's comments and reviews. I'm relieved that you liked Nanao and Principal Fubuki, and I'm truly sorry this chapter got delayed as much as it did. A couple of weeks were out of my control because of school and stuff, but I definitely could have gotten this out at least a week ago if I had been more diligent. I guess I needed to take a break to collect my thoughts.**

**Anyhow, I will now announce the currently accepted cast. Which is as follows: **

**1 Fubuki Shirou**

**2 Tsuta Sousou**

**3 Arakaki Rie**

**4 Suehiro Hibiki**

**5 Okita Chieki**

**6 Kurapati Itona**

**7 Soru Dangan**

**8 Kiyamota Miyuto**

**9 Shiraishi Kirina**

**10 Kayo Okimi**

**11 Nishinoya Ken**

**12 Konton Yasei**

**13 Damasu Kakeru**

**14 Kagehira Misao**

**15 Kimura Hikaru**

**16 Koge Hajiro**

**17 Kagayaki Hikari**

**18 Tanso Rani**

**19 Tsukijo Charlotte**

**20 Taiyo Kaito**

**21 Ishida Souji**

**22 Nakano Kaede**

**There will be a more detailed list posted on my profile at a later date (soon, i promise) with Quirks and other information, but this is the basic list for now. So if you see your OC's name here, congrats! If not, there's still the possibility of me over-viewing them and adding them to class 1-B, which will be used in this story to a certain extent. **

**Some characters were introduced this chapter and I will introduce another batch next time, so be on the lookout for that. The Entrance Exam is just getting started and we've got a really sadistic person in charge to ensure it'll remain interesting... totally referring to the person at the end of the chapter, not the writer of the story.**

**And I think that's about it. Thank you once again for the overwhelming support so far and I can't wait to see your comments about this chapter. I had to rework and switch some stuff around (which is why the first timeskip came off as a somewhat jarring and sudden) but I overall feel good about it. **


	4. 4 - Making Friends

**Hello and welcome~**

**Zero back here again for another chapter, hopefully a fun and entertaining one at that. I've been light on the action so far since I don't feel like fight sequences are a particularly strong suit of mine, so we'll see how everything goes here as I try to incorporate and balance it with my usual style. **

**I think the story has been doing well so far. Things have slowed down as they usually do and that's fine, but it still makes me really happy to see people's reviews and comments. It really makes me want to keep giving it my all!**

**Anyhow, enough talk. Let's go, let's go~**

* * *

"_You…" The old man's voice said, "You will become a Hero." _

_He was still a young boy, innocent and naive. He was barely able to grasp what the man's words meant, let alone the real intent behind them. But he was ignorant, and he was happy. After all, how could protecting others ever be a terrible thing? _

_The training was harsh, but he was made for it. Where others failed, he succeeded. And everyone would cheer and praise him. But before he noticed, he started seeing his mother less and less, and his father grew to resent him. _

"_Ignore him," The old man said, "That man is a failure." _

_He still remembers that prideful smile vividly, sees it every time he closes his eyes and thinks about him. _

"_But you…" His voice said… "You will become a Hero." _

"_A True Hero."_

* * *

"Fubuki-san…" Souji shook his shoulder, bringing him back from his daydreaming, "Fubuki-san!"

"Ah… huh?" Shirou slowly came back to his five senses, and shot Souji a puzzled look.

They all sat in the dark, most of them at least.

They found refuge in the topmost floor of one of the fake buildings, away from the sounds of helpless screaming and futile battling. Three teams had converged amidst the chaos and confusion, and were now figuring out the best way to deal with the situation, to no avail.

"Are you feeling alright…?" The blue haired boy asked, to which Shirou nodded.

Two guys stood in the middle of the room. One of them much taller than the other one, but both gave off an equally confident aura. The shorter of the two, who couldn't have been any taller than Souji, held a cocky smirk on his face as his red eyes challenged the young man known as Tsuta Sousou.

"So? What do you propose?" He asked, "Should we just rush in and try to save everybody? That's certainly heroic… and suicidal." He laughed as he ended his statement, making the situation seem much more casual than it actually was.

Sousou shook his head, "That's not the point either, but-"

"Go on with the exam, searching for the dummy bombs as intended… or deal with the new threat instead?" The short buy interrupted him, eyeing the taller teen in a challenging way,

"Which path is correct, I wonder?"

From behind him, another tall teenager stepped up and leaned forward to see him face to face. His messy hair was an eye-catching mixture of many different colors, so he quickly nabbed everyone's attention as soon as he stood up.

"Kakeru-kun…" He referred to his teammate in a casual manner, "Don't' cha' think you're making things waaaaay too complicated?"

"I mean," The rainbow-haired teenager continued, "Why can't we just do both!?"

The short boy, Damasu Kakeru, smirked in amusement. As Shirou looked at him, he could immediately tell two things about his personality. He was smart, very smart. But...

"As fun as that would be, Konton-san ,we can't forget what this is all ultimately about…" Kakeru looked around the room, almost as if making sure everyone was hearing him.

"This is still a competition, isn't it?" He said, "No matter what happens, everyone here is fighting to be one of the few who make it above the rest. Whoever loses time going out to rescue other people will fall behind those who stick to the primary objective."

He was smart, but he was also a wicked person. Or at least, he had a perverse way of thinking. It was simple logic but twisted in the most conflicting way possible, and deep inside everyone in the room bought it.

"Way to just antagonize everybody…" One of the girls from Sousou's team, a red-haired young woman named Arakaki Rie muttered bitterly. She stood watch by the door, poking her arm out into the hallway. When she volunteered to keep an eye out for any of the beasts outside making it all the way up to the floor they were in, nobody expected her to literally gouge out one of her eyes and use it as some sort of weird zombie selfie stick. It wasn't a pretty sight, but apparently it worked.

"Look," Sousou said, "I get what you mean, and if I had it my way, I would be out there right now. But you have no way of knowing if those _things _aren't supposed to be important to the Exam."

"Right back to you, we have no way of knowing _if_ those creepy hounds are important or not." He shrugged, "What we do know is that the bombs are, or did you forget the instructions?"

Just as it looked like things were about to get violent, another person stepped up to the front and right in between them. A girl with golden blonde hair and eyes of the same color. She waved her arms around cheerfully with a big grin plastered on her face, but no words escaped her mouth. She merely stood there with a carefree attitude despite the tense situation, and despite her voicelessness, everyone could tell what she wanted to communicate.

"Miyuto-chan…?" The rainbow-haired Konton Yasei asked, caught by surprise by his teammate's sudden interruption.

Shirou noticed Souji getting up as well.

"Uhm…" The blue-haired boy began, "I-I know everyone is here for their own reasons, but… none of us will get anywhere unless we come to an understanding!"

The blonde-haired girl nodded repeatedly at Souji's statement, before turning to Kakeru and giving him a couple of nudges with her elbow. She was much taller than him, so the sight of it was oddly funny.

The short boy sighed and turned around. He seemed annoyed and running out of patience, but he finally stood down after muttering that they better not waste his time.

"Thank you, uh… Miyuto-san." Souji said, visibly fighting the pressure of being under everyone's sight.

The blonde girl gave him a proud thumbs up and gleefully skipped over to her side of the room, over at the side of a bespectacled young girl that had been quietly watching the exchange like most other people in the room.

"Alright then…" Sousou finally spoke, "What do we even know so far?"

"Everything was going great till the weird dog-things showed up and started using people as chew toys. Same old, same old." Another person from his team replied, this time being the dark-skinned girl who had introduced herself as Kayo Okimi earlier.

"Uhm… about that..." Souji began, still a bit unsure of himself.

"Hm?" Okimi raised an eyebrow.

"We don't think they are actually harming anyone… too much, anyway." Everyone's eyes shifted toward the white-haired teenager now standing next to Souji, breaking his silence for the first time since entering the room. Shirou sighed, he wasn't a shy person in the slightest, but talking to people like this was uncomfortable.

"What do you mean?" Sousou asked.

"There is a hidden network of underground tunnels, Souji here sensed it earlier thanks to his Quirk. We believe that's how those beasts suddenly appeared everywhere without us noticing." Shirou continued.

Souji nodded, "And if what I sensed before we came up the building is what I think it is, those things are taking captured students down there… I saw them up close, and their fangs seem to be made more for biting into something and not letting go than to actually hurt you."

Shirou recalled the scene earlier, with Souji pinned down by one of the hounds. They'd only just met about an hour earlier, but observing every little detail even in that situation felt like a very Souji thing to do.

"What's more… I think all the tunnels seem to lead to the same place." Souji added, "The big building at the center of the complex."

"That big observation tower?" Kakeru asked from the other side of the room, holding his hand to his chin. Though, the way he said it made it seem like he was asking the question to himself.

Souji nodded once again, "Hajiro-san is currently out taking a look, I'm still not sure but…"

"That's probably also where those things came from in the first place." Shirou finished for him.

There were a few moments of silence, before the black-haired Kakeru broke them once again with a biting question.

"And just how does that help us? It still doesn't solve the issue at hand." He pointed out while laughing in a half-mocking way.

Shirou shook his head, "I know there's not much I can do to convince you, but-"

He closed his eyes, remembering some of the words his grandfather never shut up about.

"Things rarely always go smoothly for Pro-Heroes, right? I have reason to believe this whole situation is meant to represent that." He said, and some of the people inside the room seemed to agree with him.

"Reason to believe?" Kakeru asked, "And just what reason is that?"

"That's…" Shirou avoided his gaze, "Not important. But Heroes are expected to adapt, aren't they? I think that's what Kirisaki is telling us to do."

Next to him, Souji's eyes suddenly lit up. "That's right!" He said, "Weren't we all caught off guard when Stella-san told us to get into teams? It's probably easier to believe that they forgot to tell us about it, but if what Fubuki-san is right then maybe the whole point was to test our reaction!"

Once again, most of the aspiring students appeared to be in agreement, silent or otherwise.

"That… does sound like it could be true…" The rainbow-haired Konton muttered to himself, even though he had honestly not been paying attention for a few minutes. Next to him, the tall Miyuto gave off a beaming smile, and the short bespectacled girl next to her gave a small nod.

Kakeru sighed and shrugged, "Fine then, you win."

"We'll deal with this _pest problem_."

He laughed once again, this time to himself.

* * *

**Meanwhile...**

Koge Hajiro looked down on the city from the skies, his wings spread out wide and strong as he calmly let himself be carried by the wind. His orange eyes, much like a bird's, scanned the scenery to find any signs of movement. And find it they did, and it was a distressing sight in what would have otherwise been a perfect day for flying.

The mysterious white beasts ran along the streets and into buildings, ambushing teams of confused teenagers who did their best to fight back but were ultimately overrun and separated. They behaved like wolves, true pack predators, targeting the weakest members of the group first and taking them away before the others could react. They wouldn't let go once they bit down on their targets, and would drag them away to another location… The tunnels Souji had mentioned earlier, most likely.

Although deeply unnerving, Hajiro truly wished he could help them. But he had been entrusted with a mission only he could accomplish, being that he was the only one who could safely get around the area without being targeted or drawing too much attention.

He diverted his sight to the tallest building in the complex, a tall observation tower almost at the center of the cityscape. It peaked noticeably taller than any of the other buildings around it, giving it a decent look of most if not all of the complex… the perfect place to oversee the whole action.

Well, except for the air, that is.

The airborne black-haired teenager concentrated, feeling his back muscles tense up. From underneath his wings, yet another pair sprouted violently from his back. It wasn't a pleasant feeling, but he was used to it by now.

Now with two pairs of wings, he powerfully pushed through the air and increased his speed exponentially. He quickly approached the tower, the air brushing his skin as he went. And there, he saw her.

A woman, tall and beautiful with scarlet hair that fluttered in the wind. She wore a dark chinese-style dress under a black coat, and two of the creatures were patiently sitting by her side. Hajiro's eyes widened, he thought for sure that he was mistaken but… was she looking at him? A chill ran down his back as he noticed those shiny-red lips smirking at him…

She muttered something, and then Hajiro's worst nightmare came true. The two hounds by her side sprouted wings of their own and leapt off the edge of the tower, and a sense of dread surged inside Hajiro's chest.

He cursed and turned tail, using his powerful wings to stop his momentum and twist his body the other way, but it was too late. The creatures were as swift on the air as they had been on the ground, and quickly caught up to him.

"...A-are you kidding me!?" Hajiro twisted his body around with strength, hitting one of the creatures with his right wings while shielding himself from the other with his left. He then let himself fall down, using gravity to build up speed again.

The pair of creatures shrieked loudly and chased after him, their hook-shaped fangs bared.

Hajiro swiftly flew down to street level and navigated in between buildings and through alleyways with amazing agility, but he couldn't escape them and he knew it. He had to get back to the others, and fast. A turn to the left, two turns to the right, up, up and then back down again. He would have sprouted another pair of wings, had he had the time to spare. But as he pondered his options… the inevitable happened, a dead end. A wrong turn that had dominoed into a precarious situation. _What to do, _he wondered, trying not to panic even as the two beasts homed in to his position as if they were missiles.

And then… a glimmer. A small shine of silver barely bright enough for his eyes to perceive, timed perfectly between one beast and the other. The small metallic object burst into a blinding blue light, and from it appeared a long-haired young man as fair as an angel. Aided by the element of surprise, the teenager kicked one of the beasts straight out of the air and acrobatically flipped around to knee the other right on the head.

"Now, Soru-kun!" A girl called from below, and a second boy with eyes as bright as the sun appeared from around the corner.

"Right..." He let out, everything but motivated, and pointed his index finger at one of the beasts. A small orb of materialized light rapidly formed on its tip, which was then shot fast enough to burn a hole clean through it.

Finally, the girl from earlier clenched her fist, her skin hardening and crystalizing as she did. She gave out a small yell as she punched the other creature just before it hit the ground, sending it crashing against a wall.

"Taiyo-kun, landing!" She then called out to yet another boy, who silently rushed past everyone and caught the falling boy who had appeared in midair before he could hit the ground. He jumped up impossibly high for a regular human, and then made a perfectly landing while carrying another person all while remaining perfectly silent.

The still flying Hajiro slowly landed, still dumbstruck. The team had appeared out of nowhere and finished the fight in virtually a few seconds, and seemingly with ease. As soon as he landed, the girl who had called out from earlier approached him energetically. Her brown hair was kept in a messy and disheveled braid, and her green eyes watched him excitedly.

"Hello!" She greeted as if nothing had happened, "Are you okay?"

"Y-yeah…" Hajiro replied, still catching his breath.

"That's great!" She continued, "We saw you zipping around the air and thought you might need some help, who knew those things could fly, huh!?... Oh, I'm Tanso Rani, by the way…"

"This guy with the golden eyes is Soru Dangan-kun!"

"Yo…" The teenager in question gave Hajiro a lazily made peace-sign.

"This quiet guy is Taiyo Kaito-kun!"

"..." Still refusing to speak, the green-haired boy barely looked at him.

"And the pretty boy is-"

"Suehiro Hibiki… nice to meet you." The teenager who had appeared out of nowhere earlier cut her off. His dark colored hair was kept in a small braid that rested on his shoulder, and his distant eyes were the color of copper. Hajiro had a hard time getting an impression of him...

"Right! And… uh… that's it?" Rani finally deflated herself. Clearly, she carried the team when it came to confidence and spirit.

"Nice to meet you guys, uh, I'm Koge Hajiro." He scratched the back of his head, overwhelmed by the scene.

"That's such a cool name!" Rani said, but quickly changed subjects, "Did you lose your team?"

"Ah... No, at least I don't think so…" Hajiro replied, "I was sent to take a look at something, but…"

Hajiro gave them a quick rundown of what his teammates had discovered earlier, and how he had been sent to confirm their suspicions. Having been roaming the streets since the beginning of the Exam, Rani's team seemed to understand their point of view better than the others. Apparently, they had noticed the hounds dragging people down to the tunnels as well. They had actually considered following them in, but decided against risking it in the end. They talked to Hajiro about how the situation on the streets had been, and how they had figured out that the monsters were indeed frightening, but nowhere near unbeatable.

"So… what did you find at the tower?" Soru asked, still not very invested in the whole thing.

"A woman, she sent those things after me when she saw me…" Hajiro explained, glancing back at the two hounds that laid motionless near them.

"A woman…?" Hibiki muttered, as if going over Hibiki's words, "In that case... the probability of her being the one controlling the beasts is high…"

"What do you think we should do?" Rani asked.

Hajiro thought about it for a moment. He had to go back to Souji and the others to inform them about the woman he had seen, might as well bring in more help.

"We aren't too far from where my people are hiding, will you join us?"

* * *

**Some time later…**

Shirou peeked his head around the corner, gray eyes paying close attention to the area surrounding the tower. The tall building was located at the center of a park, with plenty of space between it and any other building and thus very little cover to sneak around. To make matters worse, there were numerous patrols of the white hounds making rounds around the location. Just by counting the ones nearby and estimating from that, the white-haired teen guessed there were probably around a hundred of them.

"It's impossible," He whispered to Kirina, who stood beside him. "We aren't getting through that undetected, not even you."

The pale-skinned girl nodded, visibly frustrated by that point. She looked down at Souji, who was crouching down and feeling the ground with both hands.

"It's hard to tell past all those things… but…" He began, eyes closed as he focused his Quirk's sense, "The inside of the tower should be relatively empty… probably..."

"Besides the top." Shirou said, to which Souji and Hajiro nodded. His arrival had finally confirmed their suspicions, and the help he brought gave them the manpower to even attempt something like this.

He looked back to the other end of the street, where the other three teams waited. He gave them a nod, and Sousou quickly walked over to their side with the others in tow.

"No other choice, then?" The tall teenager asked, dark eyes hiding a slight excitement.

Souji shook his head, "And I can't sense the captured people from here… they are probably somewhere deep below the ground."

"Kept locked inside a hidden chamber, that's a classic!" Kakeru snickered once again, but Shirou wasn't sure anyone was in the mood for jokes.

"Up to this point we weren't aware of our enemy's abilities, which according to Rani-san's team aren't as threatening as they seem to be." Shirou began, stretching his arms.

"We can force our way through to the tower, I'm sure of it now." He said, eyes focused.

"Ha! And do you think your lady up there will let us do as we want?" Kakeru mocked, "She works for Kirisaki, most likely. Which means she's a Pro-Hero, I wouldn't be so confident if I were you."

As Shirou looked at the short teenager with a serious expression on his face, Sousou smirked.

"That's exactly what makes it interesting." He said, but with a completely different kind of confidence.

"Souji, what's the plan." Shirou asked out of nowhere.

"E-Eh!?" The still crouching boy sprung up to his feet, confused, "M-me!? Why me?"

Shirou looked him dead in the eye.

"...I don't think anyone else cares enough to come up with something."

"It's not even that complicated!" Souji retorted, visibly anxious.

"Is that so…" Shirou continued, and watched as Souji straightened himself up.

"You said it yourself earlier, didn't you? With everyone here, we can probably make it all the way to the tower if we move fast enough. From there we should split into two different groups... " He started, and the others nodded.

Souji took a deep breath to compose himself, "First off, our main objective is to confront the woman at the top of the tower. We don't know anything about her or how many of those things she could have hidden around, so I think it would be safest to send our most versatile members up there…"

Everyone agreed silently, and thus he continued.

"But, we can't all head just head up there and forget about all the monsters. If things get tough, we sure as hell don't want a hundred of those things running up on us from behind… I think some of us… most of us, actually, should stay behind and guard the entrance."

"Heh, I'm liking this already!" Arakaki Rie stepped up to the front, "I don't know how long we could hold them off, but count me in!"

"Yeah, yeah!" The energetic Rani began, "It sounds like fun~"

"That's right, I'm in!" Okimi Kayo followed up, pumping her fist.

"Uhm… I'm not sure it's something worth getting excited about…" The short Itona said, "But if I can help, I will"

"Yeah, me too." Hajiro followed.

Several others chimed in and volunteered to set up a line of defense after they'd made it to the tower, which made Souji feel embarrassed. He hadn't expected everyone to be so on board with his plan. He gulped down and spoke up once more, however.

"Thanks everyone… Now, I'm not much use in a fight, but I believe I should be going up the tower… just in case anything is hiding in there. Who else is coming?"

Sousou smirked, "Of course, that would have to be me!"

Souji nodded, and noticed the two quiet guys from Rani's team also making their way over to him. _Kaito-kun… and Hibiki-kun… _He remembered. They exchanged silent nods, and thus were added to the raiding party.

"I'm also coming." Kirina announced blankly, and nobody dared question her about it.

Finally, everyone's eyes fell on Shirou, who had remained quiet until then.

_A True Hero, _the words echoed in his mind.

He clenched his fist and gave the group his best attempt at a confident smile.

"_Let's do this!"_

* * *

**Hmmm… not my favorite chapter for some reason, but it'll have to do. This was originally going to be at least 50% longer, but I decided to cut the big battle scenes and dedicate most of the next chapter to them. **

**I know I said I wasn't going to introduce a lot of characters so quickly, but after many changes and revision I ultimately decided to go ahead and introduce a decent amount of them here… because reasons. **

**For those of you who got to see your characters in this chapter, however brief their appearance may have been, how did you feel about them? It's still early, so I can make any adjustments where necessary. **

**I plan to wrap up the Entrance Exam next chapter, so I can get to the actually interesting stuff. I wasn't so sure how interesting my idea would be but I think it came out fairly good. Sadly I didn't have the time to truly develop it extensively, but it was nice to see how many of you liked it. **

**Anyhow, I hope you enjoyed. Don't forget to follow the story if you haven't already and maybe drop a review with your feedback, both positive and negative. **

**I'm far from the writer I wish I was, so any criticism would be greatly appreciated. **

**Also, I'm still getting around to setting up the finalized, "proper" cast list on my profile. I have a maxed procrastination skill, but I'll try to have it there by the weekend. **


	5. 5 - The Huntress and The Hunted

**Hey guys, I am back again. The story is about to reach 2,500 views, so I wanted to thank everyone for their support!**

* * *

**Observation Tower - Rooftop **

The red woman smirked, pleased, her scarlet hair and black coat fluttering in the wind. The tower was several hundred feet tall, so it was a wonder that she managed to stand there, unbothered as the air currents struck her body from multiple directions. She stood there by the edge, looking down on the fake, fabricated city that had become her hunting grounds.

The preparations had taken over a month, building up so many Hounds was truly taxing, after all. But yet again, just like the year before, the hunt was nearing its end. She could feel it in the back of her head, there weren't many students left. It was a twisted scheme, the one Principal Fubuki Hyoga had devised. Unforgiving and misdirecting, designed to test an aspiring student's character and not just their raw skill and talent. Many broke under the pressure or were simply unable to face down their enemies in the midst of the chaos, while most of who remained failed to understand the true meaning behind the Exam.

She didn't take great pleasure in tormenting hundreds of innocent kids every other year, but witnessing the unique situations that would occasionally arise was truly amusing. It didn't always happen, but every once in a while a bright prospect or two would appear on stage.

While reminiscing about the past, she was forced back to reality by a sudden loud noise that was followed by the entire tower shaking as if an earthquake had suddenly struck.

"Hm?" She raised an eyebrow and peered down to the city, where two massive waves of ice and wood split the park surrounding the tower in half. They pushed violently against the structure and rose high enough that her hounds couldn't jump over them, therefore forming a safe corridor leading straight inside the tower…

She smiled and walked away from the edge, ready to entertain a new couple of special guests.

* * *

**Observation Tower - Park**

A burning sensation enveloped his body, strange, given that it was a layer of frost that had started to spread over his arms and legs. The harsh breaths escaping his mouth blurred his sight as they condensed and formed small clouds in front of his face, but he kept moving forward nonetheless. He ran with a limp, all feeling in his right foot temporarily gone after producing such an absurd amount of ice, but he was used to it. As long as the cold didn't reach his chest, everything would be fine.

The group of aspiring students ran under the cover of a massive corridor formed of ice and wood -courtesy of Sousou, its walls stretching the whole way from the street to the tower's entrance and erupting upwards over a hundred feet high, enough to block the afternoon's rays of sunlight and leave it dark and cold.

"Fubuki-san, are you alright!?" Souji asked as he moved to offer a shoulder for support. It was he who came up with the idea to block the Hounds out of their path, but it was up to Shirou and Sousou to do it.

Shirou swatted the blue-haired boy's hand away, "If you touch me, you'll freeze, too… I'll be fine in a minute…"

"What about Sousou?" He asked.

Souji worriedly looked forward to the rest of the group, quickly spotting the black-haired teenager. He watched as he casually gulped down several flasks of sugar while running full-sprint, before letting out an almost inhuman sound of satisfaction and rushing past everyone to the front of the group.

_Ok,_ Souji thought.

"Don't worry about him…" He replied.

The group of sixteen swiftly made it to the tower's glass doors, where the rainbow-haired Konton Yasei recklessly dashed past everyone and aimed his index finger at the entrance.

"Gimme something good!" A small orb of dark energy formed on the tip of his finger, which was shot against the glass door. As soon as the energy touched it's surface, it surprisingly exploded into a fiery burst of flames that shattered the crystal into thousands of small bits and pieces.

"Hell yeah, that's what I'm talkin' about!"

The group made their way inside without stopping, where they encountered a handful of the wolf-like creatures. But now aware of their actual strength, the teenagers didn't hesitate to rush at them.

Sousou, having retaken point, stretched his arm toward one of the hounds. From it, a massive wooden fist exploded outward and collided with the charging beast. With tremendous power, it was pushed all the way to the other end of the fake tower's lobby and pinned down against the wall.

The red-haired Arakaki Rie followed next, almost literally taking the bull by the horns and throwing a creature up high above her head with inhuman strength.

"Catch!" She said with a grin, looking behind her shoulder to watch Okimi Kayo, who ran over the remaining flames consuming the door's frame. As soon as her hand's skin made contact with the fire, it burst into a fiery blaze that didn't appear to harm her in the slightest.

"I got you!" She said, leaping high into the air. She clapped her hands together, spreading the fire from one arm to the other, and proceeded to chop down on the airborne beast. The heat from her flames almost seemed to melt through the clay-like material of its body, cleaving the hound in half.

Shirou watched the hound's melting body attentively, still recovering from the previous use of his Quirk. It was as they had guessed, the beasts were merely puppets… or more accurately, golems created by the user's Quirk. They were clearly born from the ground, but were infused with some form of organic material that made them very life-like. It was a very wicked ability nonetheless, one that bordered on the power to create and manipulate life itself… twisted for the cruel purpose of hunting down innocent boys and girls.

_That sort of thing was just like that old man, _he thought to himself. But as he was lost in thought, he lowered his guard and didn't notice one of the hounds homing in on him. His reflexes and mind were fast enough to react to the incoming threat, but his frozen body wasn't. He closed his eyes and prepared for the worst, but nothing happened. He opened his eyes to find the creature frozen in mid-air, its jaw clenching the arm of a girl who had stepped in between them unnoticed. But the bespectacled girl didn't cry out in pain or even move an inch, she simply stood there, her black hair with streaks of red turned toward him.

The beast released her arm and landed on the ground, ready to attack again. Shirou reacted and aimed his hand at it, calling out to the girl to get out of the way. But before anything could happen, the creature was kicked away by the mute blonde girl from earlier.

The beast was caught by a mess of cream-colored hair that shaped itself like a hand and constricted its movements. Kurapati Itona, the small boy shorter than even Souji, grunted while holding the beast up in the air with nothing but his hair. He jumped and spun his body around, slingshotting the creature away from them, where it was once again kicked in the air by a flying Hajiro...

"Hey…" Finally away from the action, Shirou walked over to the girl, his limp almost gone. He looked over her shoulder to find her arm looking like what appeared to be a bloody mess, which made him feel as if a knot had formed inside his throat. However, the blood covering her arm slowly retreated back into her wound, disappearing completely and sealing it from the inside. In a matter of seconds, her pale arm was like new. Rather than her bleeding from her wound, it was as if her blood had left her body and protected her arm…

"I'm…" The girl said with a quiet voice, "I'm… fine."

She hid her arm, nustling it against her chest. She then shot him a slight glance from behind her glasses with those scarlet eyes of hers, and slowly walked away from him. He remembered her now, somewhat, she was the girl who had kept quiet throughout the whole discussion back at their hideout. The one who had stood next to Miyuto practically the whole time…

Speaking of Miyuto, she now stood in front of Shirou, giving him a concerned stare with a raised eyebrow.

"...Oh," Shirou said, "I'm alright, thanks for helping out there."

The blonde girl gave him a heartfelt smile and a nod, before turning away as well.

It was all over in a couple of minutes, the tower's giant lobby wiped clean and secured. The aspiring students now assembled in the center of the room, divided in the two groups that had been arranged earlier. The the left stood the raiding party, headed by Souji and consisting of Sousou, Kaito, Hibiki, Kirina and Shirou. The rest stood to the right, with the dark-haired Kakeru leading them.

"Then, this is it." He said, cocky smirk still on his face, "You go on your little mission while we stay here and try not to die… seems _fair._"

He laughed to himself as he usually did, leaving everyone wondering if he was truly serious or not.

"Now, now…" The tan-skinned Itona interjected with that peaceful tone of his, "Everyone already agreed to this, let's all do our best!"

"Yeah, damn right!" Rie grinned, "You guys go have fun with your crazy lady, the real ass-kicking is happening down here!"

"You bet!" The rainbow-haired Konton Yasei spoke up, giving the red-haired girl a high five.

"Well… that's…" Itona commented, a bit surprised.

"Whatever, whatever!" Rani, the girl from the team that rescued Hajiro earlier, spoke, "We'll be fine! That's what those two are trying to say… probably."

"Guys." Souji spoke up, getting everybody's attention, "I'm not sure how long it'll take them to figure it out but… It's a possibility that all the hounds outside will come rushing through the tunnel the same way we did."

"Won't we be screwed then, seeing as _someone _blew up the entrance?" Okimi Kayo commented.

"Hey, I did!" Yasei raised his hand… earning him a couple of sighs.

"Don't worry about that one, I've got it covered of course." Kakeru spoke up once again, walking past everyone with that confident attitude. He buried his hand inside the pocket of his track jacket and produced what seemed to be a deck of cards, and took the first two cards from the top.

"This is perfect for my abilities, you see?" He laughed, skillfully throwing both cards toward the entrance. In mid-air the cards suddenly grew in size until they became as large as full-sized gates. They twisted and turned, driven by an invisible force, and landed right where the original entrance had been blown up a few minutes ago.

"That should hold for a while, unless they dig a tunnel or something!" He laughed, but everyone stood in awe. Kakeru received some compliments, but Souji reminded everyone of the situation. They had no idea if their plan would actually work or if their interpretation of the Exam's true meaning was correct, but as far as they knew, they were the only ones left and that was the only lead they had.

"So… you're going now?" Itona asked, looking around the raiding party with that calm smile of his.

"Yeah," Souji replied, returning the shorter teenager's smile, "We'll make sure to end this, I promise."

Itona nodded, and watched the 6 aspiring students leave for the stairs, but not before a barrage of complaints about the tower's elevator not working.

A scratching noise turned everyone's heads back to the card barrier, which was followed by a series of progressively increasing scratching noises and demented hawling creepy enough to give even the toughest person a chill. The ten remaining teenagers assembled in the middle of the room, facing the barricade.

"Guys… we really got the short end of the stick, didn't we…?" Okimi commented, flaming fists clenched.

Yasei and Kakeru however, let out a burst of laughter. The short teenager produced what remained of his deck of cards and drew an entire hand of them, smirking proudly.

"Only if we get killed!"

His laughter echoed through the lobby, as the sounds of scratching and pushing grew louder and louder..

* * *

The raiding party climbed flight after flight of stairs, being led by the white-haired Kirina and her incredible agility. She dexterously jumped from one side of the railing to the other, while the boys behind her struggled to keep up their sprint after the first 5 floors or so.

Souji basically crawled all the way behind everyone else, with only the still weakened Shirou remaining somewhat close to him. As the group neared a turn, he looked at the red square that marked the floor number.

_20\. _

Despite his body's urge to stop, the blue-haired teenager decided to endure and keep pushing forward. Eventually the party made the top floor, no less than 15 floors later. Wasting no time, Kirina kicked the door open and stepped out of the maintenance stairs, followed by Sousou and the rest of the boys. Souji practically dragged himself outside, but there she was…

His eyes were met by two hungry orbs of crimson, belonging to the face of a woman with fiery hair scarlet like blood pouring out a fresh wound. She had an enticing look about her, possessing a mature beauty unlike any he had ever seen with his own eyes. She wore a bright red, sleeveless changshan with golden embroidery and designs, as well as a pair of black pants. A black coat hung from her shoulders like a cape, and she stood there with her arms crossed.

"My, my…" The lady spoke, scarlet hair in a long braid, her voice sending a chill down the boy's spine. He even noticed Shirou tensing up next to him just from the vibrations coming from his boy, though the same could be said about everyone in the group.

"I see some sheep have wandered into the lion's den…" She paced around, examining the teenagers with a satisfied smirk. She was sizing them up, Souji could feel it, expertly drawing up conclusions about them from the slightest hints and cues. How tired they were after rushing up the building, how they reacted upon seeing her, their posture, body type… everything.

After a few seconds, her eyes finally landed back on his. He was paralized, or at least, he felt stuck in place.

"I promise you lady," Sousou began with defiant disposition, "I'm no sheep."

He moved toward her, fists clenched. However, he was stopped by Hibiki's outstretched arm. The taller boy looked at him in confusion, but the quiet boy motioned to the side with his head.

"We're surrounded." Hibiki spoke. And true enough, two lines of white hounds approached them from the sides. 5 from the left, and 5 from the right.

The woman chuckled, "I take it the bird-boy from earlier led you here… but how did he know where to look?"

"The tunnels," Hibiki responded, "Souji-kun could feel your beasts crawling through them."

"Ah!" She beamed, "Isn't this an _interesting _situation then? It's as if the stars aligned!"

She let her arms drop to her sides.

"The skill to find me and the power to reach me assembled together, that is truly… _interesting._"

The pressure from her piercing glare suddenly increased tenfold, making the six teens feel smaller and smaller.

Souji felt the adrenaline surging through his veins, surrounded by so many enemies and faced with such a menacing adversary… he felt truly useless. Before anyone else could react however, a torrent of ice erupted from his side.

"Fubuki-san!"

The white-haired boy rushed at the scarlet woman, riding on a wave of ice. He leapt into the air at breakneck speed and spun his body around, aiming a kick at the slightly taller female's head. Neither of them made a single noise. And while coming close, his strike was easily dodged by merely backstepping and leaning back.

"My, my…!"

Shirou didn't stop. He landed and kept rushing forward, striking for anything he could see. All he needed was a touch, just a slight brush, and he could freeze half of her body instantly. However, his wild strikes hit nothing but air. The scarlet woman eventually stopped moving forward and stepped in, catching his arms by the wrists and holding the boy in place.

Red stared into gray, and her scarlet slips parted.

"You… I know who you are…" She laughed at the quiet rage in his eyes, "Yes, that coldness... it could only belong to that man's seed."

Shirou's face contorted, the mere mention of the person in question being enough to throw his momentum off.

The grip on his wrists tightened painfully. He was raised from the ground and kicked right in the gut, sending him flying back to his group. Souji tried to catch him, but the power behind the impact was strong enough to carry him along and send both of them crashing against the outside wall of the maintenance stairwell.

"W-what!? That's-" Sousou looked back and forth between them, in disbelief.

"What?" She said, "Did you really think one can become a Pro Hero by merely hiding while others do my work for me?"

The black coat hanging from his shoulders dropped to the ground, and for the first time, the scarlet woman assumed a fighting stance.

"You can call me Artemis, it is a delight to make your acquaintance~" She smirked.

"The Kirisaki Academy Entrance Exam shall now enter its final stage..."

* * *

"Wooooo!" The rainbow-haired Yasei yelled in excitement as he leapt over one of Kakeru's playing card barricades, shooting a dark projectile at one of the charging hounds. The dark energy erupted into a surge of lighting as soon as it struck its target, which spread out further and paralized an entire group of the monsters.

The situation had turned chaotic, with wave after wave of hounds making it through the gates and the ten aspiring students barely being able to keep up with them. Those we were less suited for the front-lines had outright staid out of the action and hid behind the rest, while in turn those more eager to fight did what they could to keep everyone safe.

"A bit of help here!" Rani yelled out, several of the hounds trying -and failing- to get a hold on her diamond-hard arms, her crystalised skin being able to completely shatter the hook-like fangs belonging to the creatures.

Soru Dangan, the only member of her team who had stayed downstairs -main reason being that he couldn't be bothered to climb all the stairs- turned toward her with a bored look.

"...right." He almost yawned as he shot a pair of light bullets at the hounds from afar, accurately hitting each of them on the head and instantly ending them

"Thanks!" Rani yelled back, though Dangan didn't really pay attention to her. He just wanted to get things over with as fast as possible so he could go home and sleep.

Kakeru stood atop a literal fort built from enlarged playing cards, overseeing the action. He watched intently as the golden-haired Miyuto completely obliterated everything in her path with tremendous force. The more the creatures congregated around her, the stronger she seemed to become. Her strikes cut straight through the clay-like material the hounds were made from, making for a disturbing scene that made even the humorous Kakeru feel a chill running down his spine.

He noticed two of the creatures crawling up his fort from behind him, and swiftly swung his hand at them, shooting a single card in the process. The card curved in the air, slicing off both of the creatures' heads in an instant and returning to his hand. He was thankful that they didn't bleed and merely melted away into a gray blob, but it was still somewhat… disappointing?

A mass of cream colored hair shaped as a hand grabbed the edge of the card fort and pulled up, revealing a tired Itona. The tan-skinned boy panted heavily, but somehow kept his composure.

"How are things looking?" He asked calmly, quickly collecting himself.

Kakeru took another look at the gate, where his latest patch had already started to give out.

"Just peachy!" He said with a chuckle.

Itona sighed, "What about the girl?"

"Ah, Okita?" Kakaru responded, remembering the bespectacled member of his team who had preferred not to fight, "She's fine I guess…"

He looked back to where she had been hiding behind the fort, but couldn't see her anymore. He raised an eyebrow, she was shy and quiet but didn't expect her to be one to just run off without saying anything.

"Huh, she's not there anymore…"

Before Itona could press the issue, the entire building shook violently. Debri started falling from the massive lobby's ceiling, following loud noises coming from the top of the tower.

* * *

Kirina was on her heels, barely able to retreat from the scarlet woman's assault. Her movements flowed like water, each movement connecting with the next in a dance that threatened to end each encounter in a single blow. In a way, the way she moved was more snake-like than Kirina herself. Some truly wicked form of Bajiquan, it must have been.

The white-haired girl had her feet swept away by a sudden spinning low-kick, so that she found herself falling down to the cement rooftop on her back. Artemis jumped and aimed a deadly, falling axe kick at the girl's body. However, she was stopped by a sudden fist of wood that impacted her and sent her reeling back.

"Tsch…" The red-haired woman complained, brushing the wooden arm aside with her powerful arms and throwing herself out of its way. She skillfully regained her balance and got back on her feet, raising her head to see the black-haired Sousou cockily smirking at her.

"Don't underestimate us!" He threw his other fist in her direction, erupting into a mass of plant matter that flew in her direction.

Back by the rooftop's gate, Kaito and Hibiki did their best to protect the still shaken Shirou and Souji.

Basking in the warm afternoon sunlight, the green-haired Kaito easily kept the groups of hounds at bay. Absorbing his power from the sun, his body became stronger than a regular human's several times over. He easily swatted away his share of the Hounds, all while remaining perfectly quiet. He'd occasionally mutter a few short words every time one of the beasts fell to his strikes, but they were only for him to hear. In turn, Hibiki zipped around all over the place as a flash of blue light. The Hounds chased after him, but by the time they caught up he was already disappearing once again… each time after the same old silver coin.

Meanwhile, Souji tried to shake Shirou awake. He called his name, holding him by the shoulders. After a few seconds, the white-haired boy finally opened his eyes.

"Fubuki-san!" Souji cried, his blue eyes teary and exhausted, "Fubuki-san, are you alright!?"

"Wha…" Shirou came back to his self to the sounds of fighting in the background, he was confused, but didn't appear to be injured. Realizing what just happened, everything started coming back to him. His grandfather, the exam… this school...

Shirou sighed.

"You know…" He began, startling the short boy, "I never actually wanted to do any of this…"

"Eh?" Still shaken, Souji didn't understand what he meant. Shirou grabbed him by the shoulder and pulled himself up to his feet, being helped up by smaller young man.

"It doesn't matter…"

Shirou stomped his left foot and a thin layer of ice spread out from it, straight toward the group of Hounds Hibiki was running circles around. The ice made a cracking sound as it froze them in place and kept them stuck, which Hibiki instantly recognized. The dark-haired teen threw another coin toward the stuck beasts, teleporting himself toward it and delivering fatal blows to them consecutively. It was all over in an instant, after which Hibiki nodded in acknowledgement. At the same time, Kaito had finally finished off his own share.

They all looked at the red woman, who kept evading Sousou's attacks. She jumped over his extended wooden arm and ran along its length, dexterously closing the distance between them. The taller boy tried sprouting branches from his arms in order to catch her, but she was too fast. He cursed as she stepped in right in front of him, delivering a series of punishing strikes that wound up with him being sent to the ground several feet away.

"...crap." He groaned, struggling to get back up.

Artemis took a deep breath in, steadying herself. However, she looked pleased as she scanned the rooftop to see all 6 of the aspiring students in varying degrees of exhaustion. All the hounds she brought with herself had been terminated, and there was no material or time to make new ones. There was only one way the fight was ending, and it was with her own hands. She stood there in her fighting stance, feet wide apart, palms outstretched, and then the Hunt continued.

She rushed straight at the group, running into Kaito. Under the bright sunlight, he was stronger than her and he knew it, but it made no difference. A quick palm strike to his chest stopped him right in his tracks, which was followed by a spinning kick that sent him reeling backwards. Her trained reflexes caught the shine of the sun reflecting on a silver coin in her peripheral vision, allowing her to react to the teleporting Hibiki. She blocked his punch and countered with an elbow strike right under his armpit and straight into his ribs, causing the quiet boy to grunt in pain.

While he was still airborne, she grabbed his leg and threw him into a charging Kirina, taking her out of the equation as well.

A torrent of ice came her way, spiking upwards from the ground. She skillfully stepped to the side and rushed at Shirou, who aimed his hand at her. He shot a powerful freezing wave in her direction, but it wasn't enough to stop her. She emerged from it, having blocked it with her forearms. Her bare skin was covered in a layer of frost, but such superficial damage wouldn't stop her. He swung his other hand at her, attempting to freeze her body with his touch, but she ducked right in between his arms.

Shirou saw her smirk right before she sunk her elbow right into his gut, hard enough to make him empty out the contents of his stomach. The strike was powerful enough to lift him off the ground, where she aimed a palm strike at his jaw. Shirou was sent spinning in the air, coming back down to hit the ground hard and roll several times.

Souji's eyes widened, he couldn't believe it. The disturbing thuds of his team's bodies hitting the ground made his body tremble, more so because of his Quirk. In a matter of seconds, they had all been utterly defeated by the woman who currently just rubbed her arms to ease the slight discomfort they had cumulatively worked together to inflict upon her. Her strikes were like lightning, the sound of their impact like thunder. In fact, her movement had been so fast that he wouldn't have been able to tell what was going on if it weren't from him feeling the vibrations of her movement.

He felt anxiety… were all Pro Heroes this strong? If so… what hope would he ever have to…

Artemis licked her red lips, looking at the blue-haired young man intently.

"My, my…" She began, "Looks like I've found a stray sheep~"

He was scared. He wanted to run away. This wasn't what he signed up for, at all. What was Kirisaki thinking, making them go through something like this? Those thoughts flooded the small boy's head. His body was as tense as it had ever been and tears wanted to escape his eyes. He always knew he was weak, but he had never felt so insignificant in his life.

"I-...I-... I…" But he had to do it. He had come that far, worked so hard to even have a chance to stand in that stage. Everyone in his life had doubted him, told him it was hopeless. They pointed and laughed at his earnest dream… all of them, except her. He had promised her in her deathbed, swore on his own name… no matter what happened, no matter the hardships…

"I WILL be a Hero!" His rallying cry echoed in the heavens above, he rushed at her, his fist held high. His legs felt like wet noodles no more, a newfound strength overtaking his body. He threw a powerful punch at her, just like he had practiced in front of the mirror thousands of times. Feet planted, hips twisting, arm shooting forward at the perplexed woman. It was a beautiful strike, textbook and pristine.

The woman tilted her head to the side, and Souji's fist completely missed her chin.

He had closed his eyes, praying for the best, but his punch had hit nothing but air. The weight behind his own fist made him lose his balance and fall forward, where his trajectory was intercepted by the woman's knee nailing him straight in the chest. His light body was easily kicked aside, like a pile of garbage. He fell on his back, eyes cloudy.

Artemis sighed, crossing her arms behind her back.

"That's cute but…" She muttered, "You don't get extra points for being dramatic…"

She turned toward the maintenance stairwell that the six teens had used to reach the rooftop.

"Well, whatever… there's still some of them downstairs…" She flicked her long braid back behind her head, and casually strolled away from the scene. Making a mental note to send a couple of her Hounds to pick them up later.

"...!" The woman's eyes widened, she had been startled by something constricting her movement. She looked down to her feet to see a hand tightly holding on to her right ankle, it was Souji.

"My…" The woman smiled no more, "Kids these days… they never learn, do they?"

She tried to pull her feet away from his hand, but no matter how much she tried, the hand's grip didn't loosen for a second. She started to feel anxious, and violently stomped down on the boy's shoulder with her other foot.

She felt something snap under her sole, but the boy wouldn't let a single noise escape his lips. Angered, her breathing started to become agitated. And then she saw it, his face.

The boy gritted his teeth and stared at her, tears poured out of his eyes, but the fire behind them was intense enough to leave her speechless. The grip around her ankle tightened enough to make it hurt, and then she lost it. She kicked his head, but the boy wouldn't stop staring straight into her eyes. He brought his other arm up and clamped down on her leg with both hands, and then he let out a grin from behind his bloody lips.

A torrent of ice exploded toward her from her blind spot, unable to move because of Souji, the left half of her body was encased in a jagged wall of cold.

"What!?" She turned her head as far as she could to see a crouching Shirou, panting heavily and with both hands on the ground. She then followed his eyes to the side, where a grinning Sousou's wooden arm grew into an enormous size.

"Gotcha...!" The massive fist shot forward in Artemis' direction, who was now completely stuck in place. It impacted her directly with the force of a speeding truck, enough force to burst her out of the ice. She fell on her side, eyes wide and in disbelief… but a pursed smile soon formed on her lips.

In turn, the smaller Souji was flung much farther away. He slid all the way to the edge of the tower's rooftop, virtually unconscious. Unable to stop himself, he felt himself roll off the edge and down toward the abyss… He closed his eyes, and then felt the grip of a deathly cold hand around his wrist.

He opened his eyes to Shirou's usual blank expression, his pale arm covered in frost and shivering, but doing everything he could to hold him.

"Yo." He said. Shirou laid on his stomach, having barely made it in time to catch Souji.

Souji smiled weakly.

"Ah… Fubuki-san..." He began, "Did… Did we make it?"

"You're seriously nuts, aren't you?" Shirou ignored his question, "Putting yourself in danger like that."

"Sorry…" Souji responded, "It just felt like the right thing to do…"

"I see…" He sighed, "...And I thought I was the weird one."

Souji laughed softly, still hanging.

"Say… Fubuki-san," Souji began, "Would you… eh… pull me up? If it's not too much trouble, that is."

"Oh." Shirou's eyes widened ever so slightly, "About that…"

The white-haired teenager started slowly sliding forward and down, his body too damaged to muster any strength whatsoever.

"You're kidding, right!? Please tell me you're kidding!"

Shirou's body slid down completely, causing Souji to start yelling in despair. The pair started falling down the building, until a mess of long red hair appeared behind them.

Holding the edge with one hand and Shirou's leg with the other, Artemis looked down at the two teens with a soft smile, as she hung from the building herself. Her braid undone after being hit by Sousou, her mane of lush red hair freely flowed downwards.

Souji kept screaming, not realizing he had been saved once again. Meanwhile, Shirou looked back over his shoulder to see their saviour.

Artemis chuckled, but then let a sigh escape her lips.

"You kids…" She spoke, "You're a real special case, aren't you?"

Souji finally realized what was going on and looked up as well.

"Congratulations…" She said with a smile, "I can't fight anymore, you've completed Kirisaki Academy's Entrance Exam."

The sound of speaker horns could be heard going off all throughout the city, signifying the end of the Exam and causing all of the Hounds remaining in the city to freeze in place. And with relative ease, the scarlet-haired woman threw both kids back up to the rooftop and then pulled herself back up.

Shirou dusted himself off and looked at her, a quizzical look on his face.

"You say you can't fight anymore… but you still seem to be plenty strong to me."

The woman chuckled, "No, I'm completely defeated!"

Although she admitted her defeat, she still seemed to be feeling rather pleased with herself. She then paused and looked at Souji, who was more concerned about his other teammates' well being than with his own dislocated shoulder.

"You know…" She began, "When your grandfather hired me a few years ago, he said I'd be helping raise the next generation of great heroes or whatever… I thought he was full of crap!"

She laughed again for a bit.

"But now…" She turned her red eyes back toward Shirou, and smiled. "I think I kinda get what he meant."

"I…" Shirou began, "I still don't know… what I want to become."

He placed his hand over his chest, right over his heart.

"But when I heard Souji… his heat, and his passion…" He looked her in the eye, "I felt something… I don't know what it is, or what it meant… but it was there."

Artemis nodded, and then looked off into the horizon.

"That…" She smirked,

"...is something you'll have to find out by yourself."

Shirou nodded quietly and turned around to see how everyone was doing. He saw Souji carelessly laughing together with Sousou, and Kirina watching as Hibiki helped Kaito up to his feet.

For a moment, he felt a sliver of another person's presence in the rooftop. But it faded away as soon as Souji and Sousou called him over.

Shirou smiled softly, and walked up to join them.

* * *

**Whew... Entrance Exams are a slog to get through, aren't they? I'm truthfully glad to be done with this one. I enjoyed writing it, don't get me wrong, but there's really not much you can do with them as far as developing characters go. I tried to do it in a way that took the least amount of chapters possible, but it still dragged on for too long due to my own procrastination quite frankly. **

**Anyhow, I want to apologize if this stretch of chapters was hard to get through. I promise things will get more interesting starting next chapter, given that I'll finally be able to properly introduce each character in a way that does them justice. **

**Souji: "Still... I feel like we forgot about something..."**

**Zero: "Dude! Your arm! It's still sticking out!" **

**Souji: "AHHHHH!"**

**Zero: "****AHHHHH!"**

**Shirou: *looks away in disgust* **

**Oh, that's right. Don't forget to leave a review and follow the story if you haven't already, till next time ya'll! **


	6. 6 - Show and Tell

**Hah~ **

**It's so refreshing to finally be free of the Entrance Exam shenanigans. I ultimately did end up liking how it turned out, but it could have been much better. **

**Also just noticed I've been forgetting to put the chapter title at the start. **

* * *

**Chapter 6 - Show and Tell**

**Yokohama City -  
Two Weeks Later, Mid-February. **

_Clang… _

_Clang…. _

_Clang…_

The high-pitched metallic sound of a baseball bat hitting the ball echoed in the night. A lone teenager stood inside the link-fenced batting cage, illuminated by bright artificial lights. The pitching machine at the other end of the cage would let loose a speeding fastball every few seconds, which would then be promptly swatted by the expressionless boy.

"Hngh…!" His white hair swayed in the wind as the machine shot another ball his way, snapping the air as it flew. He softly grunted as he twisted his torso to hit the ball, and yet another loud _clang _was heard as the aluminum bat found its target. The ball would fly off back to the other end of the cage, where it was stopped by a large black net and rolled down next to the dozens of other spheres. That was the sort of thing Fubuki Shirou liked to do with his evenings, cold as they were. His mint-colored hoodie hugged his body loosely, but of course, the winter weather had never really been an issue for him anyway.

A slight rattling sound on the cage's wall behind him took him out of his trance for a split second, distracting him enough for the next ball to completely slip past him. He followed it with his eyes, seeing it strike the fence behind him and plop down to the floor. On the other side of the chain links, he saw a pair of white boots belonging to another person. He looked up to see the softly smiling face of a young woman he knew all too well, she wore a pretty simple green dress -as she usually did- with a black turtle-neck underneath. Shirou noticed her slender fingers lightly wrapping around the gaps on the fence, which had produced the noise that startled him.

The young woman, who was only a handful of years older than Shirou, smiled at him worriedly.

"I knew it had to be you…" She said, pushing back a few strands of her long jet-black hair behind her ear, "Nobody uses these anymore".

His gray eyes met hers, bright red like rubies on a golden crown. He looked at her tentatively for a second, before turning back toward the pitching machine. "I like it here…" He said blankly, meeting yet another fastball with his bat.

He heard her chuckle modestly behind him

"But, you know…" She looked over to the side, "You could at least wear a helmet…"

_Clang, _went another.

"It's alright, they don't hurt that much." He said in that muttering tone of his, eyes till focused on the blue pitching machine.

"_That much…_So, you've gotten hit already?"

"…"

_Clang. _

Shirou swung the bat around his feet to stretch his arm, having finally emptied the machine's contents… at least by his count. He kicked it back up while still holding it, and let it fall on his shoulder. Finally, he turned around and set it on a rack along with the rest of the bats. There were a lot of them, of many different sizes and colors, but he always chose the plainest of them all. There was a certain sense of security in plain, that's how he felt.

"…how did it go?" The young woman asked, moving along the fence to be closer to Shirou.

Shirou tilted his head, "What?"

"The Exam!" She raised her voice in a concerned tone but failed to get much of a reaction out of the teenager. He just eyed her with those worry-free eyes of him. That was one of his bad traits according to her, the way he seemed to be looking through you rather than at you.

"Ah…" He lowered his eyes, "Fine, I guess. It turned out how I thought it would."

"Your grandfather… he wasn't straightforward, was he?"

Shirou shook his head, _of course he wasn't. _He couldn't remember the last time the old man had said or promised something that didn't come with a twist or unexpected turn of events. Nobody got seriously hurt in the end, the worst injuries being along the lines of broken bones or dislocated joints, but it was still a traumatizing experience to most. Shirou himself had trouble sleeping for a couple of nights after the Exam was over; not surprising, as the screams and cries of the helpless abducted students were still fresh and vivid in his mind. What started as a simple _search and destroy _exercise turned into a surprise survival situation. Frankly, if it weren't for Souji he wasn't so sure anyone would have found Artemis_. _Of course, clearing the Exam wasn't a requirement to be accepted. What was important was the way aspiring students reacted to the situation and what they did to try and overcome it.

"But isn't it good? I'm sure you gave it your all, despite the circumstances…"

"Yuzuru-san…" Shirou began, "Is it alright for me to be there?"

"E-eh?" The black-haired girl was taken aback by his words, "What do you mean?"

As usual, Shirou's expression -or lack thereof- made it hard to read his feelings. "I…" He said, "I don't think there was any way I wouldn't be accepted."

Things quickly made sense for Yuzuru. Shirou's grandfather, Fubuki Hyoga, was not only a former Top Hero and one of the most respected figures in Japan's Hero scene, but also the Principal and Founder of Kirisaki Academy. He wasn't a household name anymore, but his name still carried a lot of weight in the right circles. If it wasn't in his own School, where he held the most influence, arrangements would have surely been made to land his grandson in pretty much any Hero Academy in the country. Ketsubutsu… Shiketsu… Even U.A.

Even if Shirou were to have an abnormally poor performance, or willingly do so bad that he couldn't possibly pass any exam… He would still be forced in one way or another.

Yuzuru noticed Shirou's lips quivering ever so slightly.

"It just feels wrong…" He continued, his voice starting to grow more intense. "Knowing that there's someone out there, desperately trying their hardest…" A very vivid image of Souji came to his mind, and how he never gave up in the face of danger despite his powerlessness.

"And here I am… getting everything handed to me on a silver platter… I don't deserve-"

"Shirou…!" She cut him off, both hands now tightly tugging on the fence separating them.

She took a breath, steadying herself. She remembered the day when she met him for the first time, a few years ago. Back when he was shorter than her, just a naïve brat aimlessly wandering through the city. He was way more standoffish and wouldn't trust anybody. An innocent kid saddled with a responsibility he didn't understand, that he _still _didn't fully understand.

She smiled at him, just like she did back then. She didn't know, or want to know, anything about Heroes or Villains or anything. But there was one thing she did understand.

"If you're kind enough to worry about that sort of thing, then… I think you deserve to give it a chance." She said, finally getting a surprised reaction out of him, silent as it may be.

"I'm not kind…" He muttered, but she ignored him.

"You should give it a chance, and maybe… just maybe… you might find the meaning behind it all!"

Shirou's eyes widened, "The… meaning?". He looked at Yuzuru, and she nodded. He pondered on her words and took a deep breath, going back to his relaxed self.

"So, what do you say?" She asked, feeling rather optimistic.

Shirou nodded, clenching his fist. "I'll do it, I'll search for it… the meaning."

…_my meaning._

* * *

**Two Months Later - **

Late was the last thing Ken Nishinoya wanted to be on the first day of school.

After getting out of the crowded subway station, the bronze-skinned boy rushed past the other pedestrians in the street. Kirisaki Academy was a long ways away from the rest of the city, located in the western outskirts of Yokohama. Still, the jogging boy had made sure to leave his house an entire hour earlier than usual.

That was the sort of teenager Nishinoya was.

He still had a fair amount of time to spare after the long train ride, but he was excited. Sure, the Entrance Exam was a difficult experience with the whole _getting dragged into a tunnel by a pack of weird-looking wolves _and all, and he wasn't sure he'd get his letter by the time March rolled around… but he then did! He grinned as he remembered the proud look in his family's faces, oh how they celebrated that night…

In the end, patience and dedication are always rewarded; that's how he felt. He wasn't excited about Kirisaki Academy specifically, but rather about beginning a new stage of his life and becoming something better, something… bigger.

He turned around a corner, sliding a bit on the sidewalk as he did, and continuing moving forward. Although he ran, he was very careful not to get his brand new uniform dirty. The Kirisaki uniform was -like almost everything else about the Academy- based on U.A's. The blazer and shirt were darker in color, and the tie was black. The accents on the blazer were also navy blue, as were the pants. It also had silver buttons instead of golden ones, which fit well with the overall _cooler _look the uniform had.

As he neared the other corner on the block whilst daydreaming about everything that was going to happen, he suddenly felt his body colliding with something that had unexpectedly peeked out from the other street.

"...Ouch!" He heard a feminine voice cry out, as they both stumbled and fell down beside each other.

Nishinoya rubbed his nose, "Dang it… just what I needed…". He opened his dark eyes to see a girl who was a bit shorter than him, but definitely much slimmer. She had brown hair styled with a fringe, as well as yellow eyes. She had a feline look about her, but not in a mutant sort of way. She also appeared to be rather unimpressed by the collision… but more importantly...

"O-Oi, I'm really sorry!" Nishinoya said, quickly propelling himself back to his feet. He stretched his hand out toward the girl, who quickly realized the same thing he did; they were both wearing the same uniform.

"You're going to Kirisaki too, right?" Nishinoya had a sheepish grin on his face, but the girl remained largely unimpressed. She took his hand however, and was helped up to her feet by the larger teenager.

"I'm reeeallly sorry!" He bowed deeply, "I was just so excited!"

"Because fuck watching the road, am I right?" The girl muttered, barely loud enough for anyone to hear.

Nishinoya tilted his head, "Eh?"

The girl smiled, as if to disregard her previous comment. She was certain he hadn't heard her properly, and thus only nodded.

"That's quite alright," She said, "No harm done!"

Nishinoya chuckled nervously, running a hand through his spiked bronze hair which was only a shade darker than his skin. He took out his phone -which thankfully had no cracks on it- and confirmed the time. He still had about 30 minutes to make it, with the school only about 5 minutes away at walking distance.

"Are you a new student?" The girl asked, to which Nishinoya nodded.

He puffed his chest, "Yeah! The name's Ken Nishinoya, I'm on Class 1-A starting today!"

The girl chuckled cutely, "Well, isn't that a coincidence! I am Kagehira Misao, also Class 1-A~"

Nishinoya grinned. The first impression wasn't what he had hoped it to be, but he felt lucky to have the very first person he met from Kirisaki be from his same class. After exchanging a few more comments, the pair made their way to the school which could already be seen standing tall further down the road. The black windows lining the building reflected the sky and the morning's sun, giving the already elegant building an even more professional field. As they walked, slowly but surely other students wearing the same uniform slowly started to appear from both side streets and the main road.

Just like U.A, Kirisaki also had a variety of other courses beside it's main Hero Course. What stood out the most among those was its Support Department, which was said to be one of, if not the best in the entire country. Likewise, its General Education and Management Departments were also about as good as they got.

As they neared the walls of the academy, a woman they both recognized could be seen standing at the entrance.

"Hey," Nishinoya started, "Isn't that Stella-san?"

Misao nodded, having noticed the pink-haired woman as well. She was a charming person alright, cheerful and bubbly. Her costume, being primarily a midnight blue sleeveless dress with white star designs and a red tie around a sailor-like collar, made her stand out just as much as the color of her hair. She greeted almost every single one of the older students by name, wishing them luck in the coming year. And when it was their turn to go through those open gates, she instantly recognized they were new arrivals.

"Ah!" She said, clasping her white-gloved hands together, "Good morning, you two~"

"Good Morning, Stella-san!" Misao replied. Meanwhile, Nishinoya's embarrassed reply came slightly delayed. His heart skipped a beat. _Man, she really was a pretty lady. _

Stella's smile grew brighter.

"Why, you kids are so adorable!" She said, "What Class are you guys heading to?"

"Class 1-A!" The bronze skinned Nishinoya replied loudly, and Misao nodded next to him.

Stella raised her eyebrows, "Wow! That's so cool, you kids are in for a ride!"

She coughed, stopping herself from getting carried away.

"1st Year Classrooms are located in the fourth floor." She said, "Don't worry, you won't miss yours~"

The pair nodded attentively and headed on through the gate, whose security system had yet to be updated with the new students' information and was thus still deactivated. They followed the other students inside through the actual school's wooden doors, where they were met by rows upon rows of shoe lockers. They headed toward the ones marked with their names and changed their outdoor shoes for their indoor ones, and then proceeded to head onwards to the lobby.

"Woah…" Nishinoya looked around the large room. It felt like the entrance to a fancy hotel, complete with a fully functioning indoor fountain, paintings and uniformed staff. The first floor was mainly administrative, containing most of the offices that kept everything organized and running like clockwork. The cafeteria and main dining hall was also located further down one of the corridors, while all of the classrooms were in the upper floors of the towers. Everything was so orderly and professional, he loved it.

"Talk about overboard." Misao commented, once again in a muttering tone.

Noticing students walking past them and into a stairwell, the pair followed after once more. They climbed several sets of stairs until they reached the fourth floor, where they got off and were met by a long and brightly illuminated hallway running down either direction; the outer walls of the building were made out of crystal after all, and were only tinted on the outside. Unlike the marble floor of the first floor, the classroom hallway was covered in a more conventional gray carpeted floor that was nonetheless perfectly clean and maintained. At the very least, it didn't look cheap. Some students talked outside the classrooms, spread out and filling the hallway with the sounds of light chatter and laughing.

Nishinoya looked to either side, until he finally spotted a sign reading _1-A _hanging from a wall all the way down to the left. The pair walked toward it and were met by a tall, sliding wooden door. His hand stretched toward the handle and he felt himself shaking with expectation, _this was really it_. He thought, it was finally happening. Misao to his side remained seemingly calm, a pleasant smile on her face.

He pulled the door open and stepped inside, a student of Kirisaki Academy.

* * *

Tsuta Sousou leaned back in his chair, balancing himself on its back legs. He was feeling a bit anxious, but that was normal for the first day of school. All around he felt fine, he guessed. He had been one of the first to make it to the classroom, along with a couple of girls he didn't recognize. With 20 minutes left before the time they were supposed to arrive, half of the classroom had already filled out.

By now however, the classroom started to fill with mostly familiar faces. It wasn't really a surprise; he had heard that actually clearing the Exam was a rare occurrence, so everyone who was a part of the effort must have gotten a very strong consideration just on that fact alone. They were all strong in their own way anyhow, and that's the only thing he really cared about.

"Yo." A red-haired girl he recognized all too well greeted him as she walked into the classroom. Her patchy-pale skin and unnatural appearance was hard to mistake, after all, more so after having been a part of her team for the entrance exam.

He waved at her lazily, "Arakaki-san, good morning."

The girl scoffed, "Just call me Rie you dork, we'll be spending a whole lot of time together after all." She rested her bag in the desk in front of him, the second of the first row… So they'd be neighbors, for a whole year at least. He was a bit bummed that they didn't get to choose their seats, otherwise he would have definitely chosen something by the window on the other side of the classroom.

"I guess we will, are you excited?" He asked.

Rie shrugged, "More or less, I just can't wait to start punching stuff… training, I mean."

Sousou chuckled in response, that was definitely a Rie thing to say… from what he could gather at least. Before he could say anything, he spotted two more familiar faces walking through the door. It was Tanso Rani and one of her teammates, Soru Dangan.

"Yahoo~" Rani greeted, her brown-haired braid just as messy as the day of the exam. She turned her green eyes toward Sousou and Rie, being the first ones she recognized… or at least, the ones sitting closest to the entrance.

She skipped joyously over to them, "Rie-chan, Sosou-kun, we all made it!" She said, "Isn't that crazy!?"

"Well, that's how things seem to be turning out at least." Sousou muttered.

"Ne, ne, Dangan-kun, isn't it?" Rani turned to her former teammate. Sousou didn't notice it during the Exam, but Rani was actually rather tall. Almost as tall as Rie, and definitely a bit taller than the amber-eyed Dangan.

Dangan yawned, "I don't know… I just wanna sleep." And he… well, he was a rather simple guy by the looks of him. Even during the Exam, he just seemed to do whatever he _had _to do and little else.

"Mou, Dangan-kun, don't be like that!" Rani said, "It's only the first day!"

"Thanks for reminding me…" He said, looking even more deflated. The group continued chatting lively about the day their exam results arrived. It was just a simple letter delivered to their homes, not even revealing any of their scores and just informing them of the next steps to complete their registration. It was rather anticlimactic for some, but at the same time it just felt right. They still had a long way to go, after all.

The minutes passed and more students walked into the classroom, nearly all of them part of the party that had formed to clear the Exam. They all congregated around Sousou's desk, each sharing their surprise that they had all made it in, and to Class 1-A no less. Among them was Kakeru, the one who Sousou remembered for being the most standoffish of the bunch. The short teenager pulled a chair from underneath another desk and sat on it backwards, resting his arms on the back rest.

"It all makes sense when you really think about it!" He said in between laughs, "Why would they separate us when they've already seen we have good chemistry? Sounds pretty logical to me."

The tan-skinned Kurapati Itona held his chin, his cream-colored hair still as lush and long as ever. "Honestly… that does seem to make sense."

Kayo Okimi nodded, her short black hair longer than it had been during the Exam. Apparently it had a tendency to burn off whenever she ignited her body while using her Quirk.

"I'm honestly just happy to have made it in~" She laughed.

Rani raised her hand, "Me too! I was really worried about it!"

"There was nothing to worry about," Itona smiled, "everyone did their best!"

The mute girl from Kakeru's team, Kiyamota Miyuto, nodded furiously. She joyfully jumped up and down with a bright smile on her face, her lush golden hair fluttering as she did. She couldn't voice it out, but it was clear she was giving everyone some encouragement. Her energy was contagious, and soon enough everyone had at least a small smile on their face… well, except for Dangan, who appeared to have almost fallen asleep while still standing up.

"Oh man, I'm pumped!" Said the rainbow-haired Konton Yasei, "This year is gonna be cra~zy!"

Sousou smirked, "Yeah, this is just the beginning."

The sound of the door sliding open once more redirected everyone's attention toward it. The entire classroom turned to a white-haired boy with a rather neutral expression on his face, who scouted the area with his gray eyes.

"Fubuki-san!" The group greeted him loudly and beckoned him to come over, managing to get a small smile from the usually stoic teenager. He walked past Kirina, who was sitting silently on her spot at the front of the room and away from the loud group. They exchanged short glances, but no words as Shirou made his way to his other classmates. All in all, only the more sociable of the class had assembled around Sousou's desk, as he noticed Hibiki and Kaito also sitting on their desks throughout the room. He also noticed the other students who he didn't recognize staring at him quietly.

As he neared the group, he gave them a small nod.

"Hello." He said quietly.

A few of them laughed merrily at his plain greeting, but not really in a mocking way. Well, besides Kakeru, who seemed to have a thing for laughing his ass off over the smallest thing.

"Good morning, Fubuki-san." Itona said, "It's nice seeing you again."

Shirou nodded, "Thanks, Kurapati-san… It's been a while."

"But, man!" Yasei began, "Isn't it cool we get to be together like this, it's like a big reunion!"

The group shared laughs and comments, speculating what their homeroom teacher was going to be like. But Shirou was quiet, glancing back to the classroom every few seconds. He silently counted the people inside, both the ones in the chattering group and the ones quietly waiting on their desks and talking with each other. After a few minutes, there were already 19 of them… but someone was missing.

_Souji was missing. _

The door slid open, and in walked another person. A boy with gray hair, silver eyes and a smug look about him… not Souji.

"Well then…!" The bronze-skinned boy sitting at the very first seat of the first row began, "That makes 20!" Shirou heard him say. It was strange, all of the sudden the worry in his chest became an empty void. It was cruel, but it made sense. If the decision was up to his grandfather, then...

Shirou sighed and started heading to his desk, which was all the way by the windows on the other side of the classroom. As he walked, he heard Kirina say something.

"It'd probably be best if you forget about him." She said without even looking at him, her harsh words testing Shirou's calm demeanor. He almost felt like telling her to shut up, but let it pass. He continued walking and finally sat down, right between Hibiki and the bespectacled, shy girl from the exam, Okita Chieki.

As he sat behind her, she shot him a little glance over her shoulder. It made him remember how she saved him from being mauled by one of the exam's hounds… She had looked at him just like that back then as well.

The bronze-skinned, also bronze-haired guy from before, Ken Nishinoya-san, started hurrying everyone back to their seats. Nobody had any objections, except the always standoffish Kakeru, who ultimately also relented after he saw the clock indicating that the first period was about to begin.

The golden haired Miyuto waved her hand at him as she sat on the seat adjacent to him, a gesture that Shirou returned along with a small smile. He then took a deep breath to clear his mind away from everything.

First period was about to begin.

* * *

She was restless.

Nanao hadn't been able to eat, sleep or even think properly the past couple of days. Even then as she incessantly tapped her feet underneath her desk in the teacher's lounge, she felt her stomach turn and the feeling of anticipation overtaking her chest. She felt pathetic wearing her Hero Costume while fidgeting like a schoolgirl...

"Now, Nanao-kun… take a deep breath!" A cheerful man with short brown hair looked over her. He wore a visor over his eyes, and a forest green hero costume. He smiled warmly, his brow furrowing slightly in concern.

Nanao did as told and took a breath in, and then out. Again and again, building up speed until she started wheezing and hyperventilating.

"Nanao-kun!"

The man gave her a couple of pats on the back until the younger woman finally coughed and steadied herself. She took a few seconds to steady her breath, and finally looked at the standing man.

"I'm sorry, Asahina-sa… I mean, Mercury-sensei…"

The man nodded, "It's alright Nanao-kun, you can call me however you prefer."

Nanao nodded.

Asahina Takashi -also known as the Pro-Hero Mercury- was one of Kirisaki Academy's teachers, being primarily in charge of the Math Classes for the Hero Course. He was also an alumni from one of the school's first graduating classes, and among the first Kirisaki alumni to become famous Heroes in Japan. He was never really anywhere close to the Top-10, but he was a recognizable figure in the city of Yokohama.

"They're just kids, you'll be fine." He began, "Just remember your time here and what you learned, put a little of your flavor in and you're gold!"

Mercury walked over to another nearby desk and grabbed one of the clipboards that rested on top of it, bringing it back over to Nanao and presenting it to her.

"Here, your class roster." He said with a smile.

The school bell rang shortly after, signaling that the first period was about to begin. Nanao felt a knot forming on her throat and her stomach turning over once again… she would vomit, had she eaten anything for breakfast.

"Come on," Mercury said, "They're waiting for you."

The bespectacled lady pursed her lips and finally gave in to her fate. She took the clipboard from the tall man's hands and stood up, walking to the door of the teacher's lounge. She pulled the door open and stepped outside, but turned her head back inside one final time.

Mercury stood there smiling, giving her a thumbs up.

"You'll do fine!"

Somehow, it didn't make her feel much better. At least she was thankful her lounge was located on the same floor as the 1st Year classrooms, so she wouldn't have to walk of shame her way up four flights of stairs to reach her destination. Still, she walked a fair distance until she reached Class 1-A, as it was located all the way on the far end of the hallway. She looked at the door and was frozen in place one more time. Everyone was inside waiting for her already, she was certain of it. _Curse that old man, _she thought. _Curse that old man and his smooth words. _

She took one last deep breath and slid the door open with a trembling hand, hoping for a quiet welcome. Instead, a loud voice inside the room let out a rallying cry.

"Stand!" The voice -belonging to Nishinoya Ken- said, "Bow!" It continued, and Nanao saw twenty heads of many different colors lowering in her direction with varying degrees of inclination.

"GOOD MORNING!" The orchestra cried out, once again with varying degrees of enthusiasm but overall loud enough to shake her to her bones. And just as quickly as they had jumped to their feet, they all sat down and looked at her expectantly.

_Ok._

Nanao began her awkward wobble toward the podium in front of the class. Her limbs were stiff as tree trunks, but they shook as if an earthquake had decided to specifically strike her and nothing else. She felt 20 pairs of eyes practically staring holes through her, hitting her with a weight she swore not even All Might would be able to carry. The podium was only a few meters away from the door, but to her it felt like walking from one end of Japan to the other. If only she could reach the safety of the podium before her knees crumbled beneath her, then maybe… just maybe she would have a chance.

Finally done with her agonizing stroll, Nanao grabbed hold of the podium as if to support her weight and slowly creaked her neck toward the sitting students while trying to retain her usual poker face… and completely failing at it.

_Please don't start murmuring, please don't start murmuring… and don't you dare laugh…!_

"U-uh…" She began, "Good morning…"

"THANK YOU FOR TAKING CARE OF US, SENSEI!" The Class roared once more.

"UWAH!" Nanao recoiled back all the way against the blackboard, completely startled by the class' emphatic response. It took all of her willpower to keep herself from flailing around frantically or going into a fetal position, and then some more to not go running back straight out the door.

_They are bullying me, aren't they? They're definitely bullying me, these kids aren't cute at all!_

"Um… sensei…" A tan-skinned boy asked, his long cream-colored hair in a high ponytail, "Are you alright?"

The genuine concern behind the small teenager's voice was enough to bring Nanao back to reality.

"Ah… y-yes." She coughed a couple of times and finally stepped up properly to the podium, though she still felt herself shaking. She didn't know where to look, quite frankly.

She cleared her throat, taking a deep breath after she did.

"H-Hello, everyone." She began, "My name is Takahashi Nanao… I-I will be Class 1-A's Homeroom Teacher starting this year…"

The class looked largely unimpressed with her, but it could have been worse. Some of the kids stared at her with eager smiles, others with rather blank expressions… and some others pretty much ignored her. She had had almost three months to prepare for it, so it didn't really surprise her. She looked down at the clipboard with the class roster on it and started making sure everyone was in attendance. She counted the first row from Ken Nishinoya-kun to Kagehira Misao-kun, the second row from Shiraishi Kirina-kun to Damasu Kakeru-kun, the third from Suehiro Hibiki-kun to Taiyo Kaito-kun and the fourth from Kagayaki Hikari-kun to Tsukijo Charlotte-kun…

All 20 Students were there.

She steeled her resolve, there was no backing out now.

"So," A boy with rainbow-colored hair spoke up, "What're we gonna do? Today's just the orientation, right?"

"Well, yeah…" Nanao replied, but then she remembered Mercury-sensei's words. She had to put a little of herself into the way she did things, otherwise they wouldn't take her seriously. She dug deep into the memories of her time at Kirisaki, remembering the strict way everything used to be done back then. The Principal wouldn't have trusted _her _with the responsibility of Class 1-A if he just wanted things to be done the same old way.

"But we won't be doing that yet." She declared, getting varying reactions from the students.

"Please, get your P.E Uniforms from those lockers in the back… put them on and follow me down to the field."

* * *

"Uh… Sensei!" Nishinoya began, "What are we doing here? "

Class 1-A had changed into their P.E Uniforms and followed Nanao-sensei down to the sports field. It was a large area with many different grounds, tracks, fields and courts. The 20 students lined up before a pretty large and empty field, wearing their gym uniforms. They were black in color with white stripes running down the sides and the short sleeves, with white sneakers and a white undershirt.

Nanao paced around, holding a hand to her chin. She seemed to be muttering something, as if trying to remember something that she had seen a long time ago. After a few more seconds of worry, she finally brought her fist down to her palm with a slight sense of pride. She was still very awkward, but every second that passed made her loosen up a bit.

"We'll play Kirisaki Show and Tell!" She stated proudly, addressing the class with confidence for the first time in the day. Most of the class was shocked after hearing the words coming out from the bespectacled woman's mouth.

"E-eh?" Kayo Okimi was the first to speak up, "Isn't that a children's activity?"

"Besides, we don't have anything to _show_." Sousou added.

Nanao shook her head, "It isn't just show and tell, it's... _Kirisaki _show and tell." She said calmly, but noticed that everyone was still confused.

Struggling to find a good way to explain it, she simply said it was once told to her.

"You... do have something to show," She pointed at them, until someone finally caught on.

"Our Quirks." Shirou said plainly, and the brown-haired woman nodded. Finally, the class started to realize what she wanted them to do.

Kakeru laughed, "Really, it was soooo simple," He mocked, "you guys are lame for taking that long to find out!"

"Like you did any better..." Okimi muttered.

Nanao looked at Shirou, staring at him for a moment. Soon enough though, she nodded in response to his assessment.

"Um, that's right." She said, "I want you to step up in front of the class and show everyone a bit about yourself."

The class looked at each other, not sure of what to do. They somehow expected something more… dire, or complicated at the very least. Soon enough though, the blonde-haired Miyuto merrily skipped her to the front. Everyone watched attentively as she arrived next to Nanao-sensei and almost seemed to twirl in place, earning her a nod from the homeroom teacher.

"Uhm… Kiyamota Miyuto-chan… right?" She asked, to which the golden eyed girl nodded with a big smile on her face, "Well… go ahead."

Most of the class already knew that Miyuto couldn't communicate verbally, so they quietly paid attention to her every movement. That was the way she communicated, using her body. Nanao watched her wave at the class, and then point her finger at her eyes as if to tell them to watch her closely. All of the sudden, a dim glow started to form around the tall girl.

"This is…" Sousou spoke up, a strange feeling overtaking his body. It was as if watching Miyuto was drawing some kind of energy from him. With each second that passed, the glow coming from the girl grew brighter and brighter. She pumped her fist, and then threw a couple of mock punches at the air. Being the one standing closest to her, Nanao had to cover her eyes to avoid hurting her eyes. However, she quickly recognized what was going on.

"You…" She began, "that glow… it's the strength you gain from people looking at you, isn't it?"

Miyuto nodded proudly, and finally her glow started to die down as she deactivated her Quirk.

_Student: Kiyamota Miyuto  
Quirk: All Eyes on Me  
She draws physical power from people's attention, while simultaneously emitting a golden glow. The more people, the more power! They have to be somewhat close though._

"That's so cool!" The rainbow-haired Yasei exclaimed, startling the students around him. "I'm next!"

As the lively teen walked up to the front to demonstrate his ability in front of the class, Shirou slowly started to sneak his way behind the small crowd. Sure, Nanao-sensei's little activity was fun to break the ice, but he wasn't really eager to join in. He felt it was somehow redundant, given that a large portion of the class had already caught a glimpse of what the others could do during the Entrance Exam. One could make the case that nobody was really paying that much attention in the midst of the chaos, but his head was still preoccupied with other things.

"Yosh!" Yasei yelled, "Here I go!"

He aimed both fingers at an empty space in the field, and two orbs of dark energy shot out in that direction. Though not particularly fast, the projectiles homed in on their target with great accuracy. And just like back in the Exam, each of the orbs resulted in a different effect. The left one hit the ground and erupted into a powerful tornado, while the one on the right created a fiery explosion.

_Student: Konton Yasei_

_Quirk: Chaos_

_He can shoot projectiles that always have a different effect. There is no sequence or pattern, it's always completely random!_

While the class wowed at Yasei's unpredictable, random-effect Quirk, Shirou found himself wondering what grandfather's intentions were. Assigning such an amateurish teacher to the most important newcomer class in many years… that was oddly unlike him. Fubuki Hyoga was never a straightforward man, something was off.

"Why so cold, ice-guy?" He heard a voice call to him from behind, one he had grown to recognize already. It was Kakeru, no doubt trying to start something.

Shirou sighed, "It's nothing…"

Kakeru laughed, "Nothing, you say?" he shrugged, "You do know that makes it a dozen times more suspicious, right?"

"Oi, Midget." Arakaki Rie called out. She also from behind the crowd, her wild red hair giving off a certain shine underneath the morning sun, "ya' better stop pestering people or somebody's gonna step on you.'"

Kakeru scoffed, "Yeah, I'd looooove to see you try that~"

As the pair started to argue, everyone out in the field didn't take too long to notice. A bunch of heads turned their way and neither of them seemed to care, their comments starting to escalate into downright insults. Wholeheartedly oblivious to the situation, Nanao interrupted them in a very shy tone.

"Um… I-is something the matter?" She asked, not really sure what to expect.

Kakeru and Rie turned to look at Nanao-sensei, but quickly dismissed her. However, Shirou raised his voice for the first time in the day.

"Sensei, Damasu-kun was just telling us how much he wanted to step up to the front to show everyone his Quirk." He said, "He's actually really fired up, as you can see."

The entire class froze in place, looking back and forth between the poker-faced teenager and their young teacher. She seemed to be in deep thought for a second, before finally giving them a slight smile.

"Is that so, Damasu-kun?" She motioned with her hand, "T-then, why don't you come with me and show everyone what you can do?"

"_SHE'S WAY TOO PURE!" _

As the black-haired boy was being dragged away by the taller Sensei, he shot Shirou a look that said more than a thousand words ever could. Most of the class seemed to be at least somewhat pleased with the result though, so he didn't care too much.

Slowly but surely, every single student in Class 1-A walked up to the front and gave a basic explanation of their abilities. Of course, some were more enthusiastic than others, but pretty much everyone was having fun by the end.

Except Kakeru, who sulked in a corner.

The minutes passed quickly, and soon enough First Period was already over.

"O-okay!" Nanao clapped her hands to get everyone's attention, "Now that everybody knows a little more about each other… um… we should get back and do some of the standard orientation."

"Sensei!" Nishinoya raised his hand, "Is Orientation all we're doing today?"

Nanao nodded, "Yes… apparently the Entrance Ceremony will take place tomorrow, after everyone's been acquainted with the school. Regular classes will begin after that."

The students murmured among each other, but quickly stood up and started following Nanao-sensei back to the school building. Everyone was somewhat more relaxed than when they first walked downstairs, including the person who came up with the activity herself. Had the dynamic been for her sake or for her students'? Shirou came to the conclusion that it must have been for both.

As he stood back and watched the rest of the students leave, he felt someone tapping him on the shoulder. He turned around, but didn't see anyone.

"Fubuki-san… down here." It was Kurapati Itona, who was more than a full head shorter than Shirou.

Shirou raised his eyebrows in amusement, "Oh."

He wasn't anywhere near the tallest person in the class, that honor went to Sousou, but Itona was just too small.

"...can you at least pretend you don't find it funny?" The tan-skinned boy muttered, pouting a little as he did.

Shirou nodded, "Okay, I'll pretend from now on." He deadpanned.

"Is something the matter?" He then asked, starting to lead Itona toward the school building.

Itona took a deep breath, "He didn't seem to make it, did he? That Souji-san."

Shirou closed his eyes, shaking his head. He didn't want to think about it, after all, there was a possibility that it had been his fault. His talk with Yuzuru had already helped convince him to be more selfish within his own path, but he still couldn't avoid feeling a certain sense of guilt. After all, it was that boy who had inspired him to even give any of this a chance.

"I see…" His eyes were a bit downcast, "I guess it can't be helped, it makes me feel sad for him."

Shirou hummed, "Kurapati-san… how are you always so nice to others?"

"Eh?" Itona raised his hands in surprise, "I, uh… I don't know?"

The white-haired boy tilted his head with a quizzical look. Before he could say anything else though, Shirou noticed Miyuto waiting for them up ahead. Either sent to look for them or doing so out of her own volition, it was hard to say which one was true. She waved at them with her outstretched arm, beckoning them to hurry up and get going.

"We're coming!" Itona called out.

The two boys picked up a jog to catch up to Miyuto, and then headed on inside to carry on with their day.

* * *

_Next Time: Chapter 7 - Our Hero Academia_

* * *

**Hah, that's that. **

**We're slowly starting to see more of the characters, but with a cast this large I definitely have to take things one step at a time. Not to worry though, as the next several characters will **_**all **_**be focused mainly on getting to know everyone and what makes them special. Today was just a small glimpse as we start getting into the school stuff. **

**It might be a little early, but what are your thoughts on the story so far? I have a lot of plans for the future and the start has certai****nly been somewhat rocky, but I'd really like to hear how you feel things are going so far. Any standout characters you'd like to know more about?**

**As far as Shirou goes, well, he's certainly the main character of the story. I've been wary about giving him much development or really delving into any of his past at all as to not take up a lot of the "screentime" for him, but as we go further and further into the story small segments like the one of the beginning of the chapter will start to become unavoidable. I apologize if you still don't like him, but I promise he's still got a lot of growing to do. His "growth curve" was one of the things I paid most attention to when designing this story. **

**Anyhow, that's it for today. **

**Don't forget to follow the story if you haven't already! **


	7. 7 - Our Hero Academia

**Chapter 7 - Our Hero Academia **

**Kirisaki Academy-**

Principal Fubuki Hyoga was a simple enough man. Not lavish despite his family's wealth, nor prideful despite of its prestige. He wasn't boastful despite his feats and, in fact, rarely talked about himself at all. His old colleagues knew him as responsible and diligent, possessing an old-fashioned sense of duty; The people under his employ, as a stern but reasonable leader. And in the end, there was a certain mystique about the man, and that's something everyone could agree upon.

He sat in the large chair of his office, turned toward the windows overlooking the grounds as he often was. Wearing the same kind of gray suit that he almost always wore, scratching the white beard that he had seemed intent on keeping for more than a decade by now.

"Yesterday's orientations appear to have gone smoothly, Mr. Principal." The pink-haired woman standing behind his desk stated, struggling to keep her body's shivering from affecting her voice. "No issues have been reported."

Despite the rest of the school's rooms and hallways being outfitted with high-tech heating systems to automatically counteract the cold emanating from his body whenever he entered them, the man had refused to have them implemented in his office; where he spent most of his time. As a result, any and all guests were met by a bone-chilling cold as soon as they entered the room.

He nodded, pleased with the information.

"And 1-A?"

Stella quickly flipped through her files, "Nanao had them doing an irregular activity first thing in the morning, but nothing out of the ordinary after that."

"Good, what about today?" He stood up, his chair creaking as he pushed himself up with his arms.

She flipped through her files again, "The auditorium is being readied for the entrance ceremony; one of the speakers required maintenance work but-"

"Nothing out of the ordinary?" He interrupted, pouring himself a cup of coffee from the machine on the far end of his desk.

"Correct." She confirmed. He had already gone through all of the files earlier on his own, going over them with her was merely a formality. He liked everything working smoothly. Of course, he didn't fool himself by saying that running a school was a terribly complicated thing, but that was even more reason for things to work like they were supposed to.

Fubuki Hyoga smirked to himself, "Good," He said before downing his already lukewarm drink in a single go, "That will be all, you can go back now."

Stella nodded and turned heel to leave the room, heading back to the elevator. She stopped for a moment right before entering it as if expecting another word, which ultimately didn't come. The pink-haired woman pressed the button that would send the elevator back down to the first floor, and bowed to the Principal before the door closed. As the machine revved up and started its trip down, Stella let out a big sigh of relief.

"That man… he's hard to deal with…" She muttered. She had been working under him for several years now, making it so far as to become his most trusted assistant. However, she still felt tremendously pressured to always be perfect when around him. It was stressful and trying, but nobody was forcing her. That was something she had decided by herself when she first started out, partly out of admiration for the man.

After all, her father and the principal were close friends from a long time ago.

Stella took out her phone and looked at the time, confirming that it was almost time for things to get going.

* * *

Shirou sat in his desk, spacing out by himself as he usually did. His head was turned left toward the window, but his eyes may as well have been staring at a wall. Not that there was anything interesting to see, given that the school stood in a fairly desolate location. The closest locations worthy of note were a small convenience store and a family restaurant, the latter of which was apparently a popular location for students to hang out after school. The white-haired boy didn't care much about either, and was instead thankful that his favorite place to kill time was a mere train stop away.

With the start of the first period still several minutes away, the class hadn't filled out completely yet. Some small groups or pairs engaged in casual chatter, which he'd join were he not so sleepy. He let out a big yawn and made a mental note to try and fix his sleep schedule already, otherwise Yuzuru would pester him about it again.

As he was lost in thought, he felt a folded piece of paper slide into his desk. He looked at it briefly, and then to his right; where Miyuto smiled and waved at him merrily. Just the sight of her gesture almost caused a small smile to form on his lips, almost.

"_Good Mornin'~~~~!" _The note read in overly embellished characters, there was even a cat-like smiley face and a couple of other designs drawn around the words. You could tell the emotion from her writing just as much as from her facial expressions and body language… talk about adaptability.

Shirou took out a pen of his own and scribbled down a response.

"_Good Morning."_

Unlike Miyuto's stylish and creative calligraphy, Shirou's words read more like something straight out of a dictionary. His characters were stiff and monotonous, whereas the blonde girl's flared around in unexpected shapes and were full of life. As soon as the note was passed back to her, the girl silently laughed. She quickly got to writing another passage, and gave the note back to the white-haired boy.

"_You don't have to write out a response, silly!" _The note read, _"I can hear you just fine~" _

"Oh." Shirou's eyes widened ever so slightly in realization. He turned to find Miyuto silently cackling again, holding her hand over her mouth for modesty despite it being unnecessary.

"Then; good morning, Kiyamota-san."

The girl shook her head from side to side, pouting a little as she did. Shirou tilted his head, thinking about what could have upset her. He then remembered a similar exchange he had with Yuzuru in the past.

Shirou felt himself finally smile a little, "Miyuto-san."

Pleased, the golden-eyed girl nodded. Communicating with her was certainly an interesting experience, which Shirou found amusing. At the very least, it was unlike any other interaction he'd ever had until that point in his life… not that he had had a wide variety of interactions, anyway.

"Guys!" A loud voice called out from the other corner of the room, "Tahakashi-sensei will get here any second now, get back to your seats!"

It was Nishinoya Ken. The bronze-skinned, bronze-haired teenager had seemingly taken it upon himself to instill order in the classroom… mainly because of the lack of any other alternatives. Shirou thought he was an okay guy, certainly not as pushy as some of his other classmates would call him out to be.

"Dude!" The rainbow-haired Yasei replied, "It's just the second day, stop it."

Nishinoya shook his head, "Today is the day of our Entrance Ceremony, I just think we should try not to get in trouble right before it."

Though it first appeared that his argument had fallen into deaf ears, everyone who was out of place slowly started to make their way back to their seats. Everyone had made it in by that point, so they all lazily continued to wait for their turn to get called downstairs. Shirou looked around the class and noticed that some people were still exchanging whispering comments, mainly at the other side of the classroom by where Sousou, Rie and Okimi were sitting.

Shirou saw Kakeru sitting all the way back two rows to his right, leaning back on his desk as he scanned the classroom in a similar manner. When their eyes met, the black-haired boy's face contorted into a displeased expression. Shirou turned away and sighed, it was probably because of the incident during the show and tell exercise. He did his best to dissolve the argument between him and Rie, but perhaps he had gone overboard calling him out to the front like that… He also saw the white-haired, pale-skinned Shiraishi Kirina, who had been his teammate during the exam. Like always, her head seemed to be buried in some sort of thick book with nothing but complicated words upon complicated words. And right in front of him, the black-haired bespectacled girl who talked even less than the snake-eyed Kirina… Chieki, was her name.

Shirou noted that there seemed to be quiet people in about equal amounts as there were talkative people, but couldn't decide if that was a good thing or a bad thing.

A few moments later, the classroom's door slid open and Nanao-sensei walked in. She was still stiff, but not as much as the day before. She had instructed the class to be quieter with their morning greeting, which probably helped quite a lot. Once that was taken care of and she had made her way to the podium, Nanao spoke up.

"Um… good morning." She began, "As you know, the school's Entrance Ceremony will begin shortly… so, c-could everyone please line up outside the classroom?"

She went straight to the point, wasting as little time as possible speaking. It had been the same way during the last day's orientation, she'd always say as little as she could and would only answer a few questions every once in a while. Overall though, it did seem that she started to loosen up every time she got going.

From the left side of the classroom, the short-haired Okimi raised her hand.

"Sensei!" The dark-skinned girl called out, "Who's going to speak at the ceremony?"

Nanao recoiled slightly at the unexpected question, "W-well, I'm certain the Principal-"

Okimi shook her head, "But there has to be a 1st year student as well, right?"

"I… wasn't informed of anything." The brown-haired woman replied, seemingly deep in thought.

_Or was I!? _

She panicked internally for a second, but was ultimately sure she had heard nothing of the sort. Up until now, anything they wanted her to know they would talk to her about.

"Anyway…!" She walked back over to the door and slid it open, "We have to get going."

Slowly but surely, the students started pouring out of the classroom and lining up next to it.

"Oi, who stepped on my foot!?" Rie cried out from the middle of the crowd that had formed on right on the doorway. The feisty redhead looked around and saw a smirking Kakeru walking right past her, barely able to contain his laughter. She immediately frowned and started yelling at him, not caring for the teacher who stood a mere two meters away from them.

As a small commotion started to form, Sousou -who stood taller than anyone else- sighed. The tall boy was now being pushed around in the middle of the crowd by the tussling bodies of his classmates.

"Would you just…" The dark-haired teen groaned, "cut it off…"

Shirou stood behind them all and merely looked on as Nanao tried to get the situation under control. It was easy to see that Kakeru was running circles around everyone, using his short stature to his advantage, which caused Rie to brush past the other classmates; hence, the pushing.

The white haired boy noticed a slightly shorter young man standing next to him, and heard him click his tongue a couple of times. He was one of the few students who hadn't been on the raiding party during the Entrance Exam. A gray-haired boy with a smug look about him, he looked at the arguing teenagers as if he was looking at some squabbling monkeys. At least that was the look his piercing silver eyes seemed to give off.

His name was Hikaru, if he remembered correctly.

"Tch, tch..." The silver-haired young man went, "Just the second day and already such an embarrassing display…"

Shirou tilted his head, not fully understanding what the longer-haired young man meant.

A few more moments passed and the fumbling Nanao-sense was finally able to separate Kakeru and Rie without any actual fights breaking out. Of course, such a feat required the help of the other classmates. Finally under control, the class now stepped out to the hallway one by one and lined up by seat number. Nishinoya Ken headed the class, while another girl who Shirou knew only as Tsukijo-san stood all the way to the back.

The group of 20 were then led downstairs by Nanao, and quickly made their way to the auditorium; which was one of the centermost facilities in the school, located parallel to the cafeteria on the opposite side of the academy's base building. Several other classes were already making their way in, so 1-A patiently waited for their turn.

Soru Dangan felt himself wanting to start pacing around. The brown haired teen felt himself yawning as he remembered the prospect of spending the next hour or so sitting down listening to other people talk; and with the tan-skinned shorty to one side and the winged normie to the other, he didn't have much hope for interesting conversations.

He looked behind his shoulder to the winged boy, Hajiro, who stood much taller than himself. He was one of the tallest in the classroom, only being slightly surpassed in height by Sousou. Dangan focused on the teen's bird-like orange eyes, which nervously scanned the area outside of the auditorium. He wasn't very sure of himself, that much Dangan could tell.

Hajiro was surprised when he noticed Dangan staring at him.

"Eh?" He began, "W-what is it?".

Dangan shrugged slightly and turned his head away without answering. Truly, he wanted to run away and hide until the whole thing was over. He looked from side to side though, and noted how it wouldn't be worth the trouble due to all the staff members and teachers standing around. Even their homeroom teacher, who helplessly fidgeted around while trying to figure out what to do, would likely react to him leaving the line.

He sighed, and finally gave up when Class 1-A's turn to enter the auditorium came. The class was led into a massive chamber containing rows upon rows of chairs, with a large stage lined with red curtains up front. It wasn't Opera House levels of overboard, but it was definitely just as over the top as the rest of the school. Everything was pretty dark however, so the room's full splendor may have very well been hidden by the lack of lighting.

Being class _1-A_, the teens were led all the way to the frontmost rows of seats. Only behind the seats of teachers, staff, and senior board members; the 20 students were all able to fit within two rows on the left hand side of the seating area.

Murmuring and chatter soon ensued, but everyone was rendered silent by the few lights illuminating the auditorium suddenly being shifted toward the elevated stage.

Tanso Rani felt a chill running down her spine.

"My heart is beating so fast right now~" She muttered, barely able to keep herself from jumping up and down on her seat.

To her side, Okimi let out a small nervous laugh.

"Ain't that right?" She commented, placing a hand on top of her chest "This is exciting."

The pair was shushed down by a passing staff member, prompting them to apologize and turn their attention back to the stage. Though by the pair's chuckles, it was clear they weren't all too deterred.

Moments passed, and Shirou grew more and more anxious. He sat closer to the far edge of the row, flanked by Chieki and Kaito. They weren't much for talking, and quite frankly neither was him. However, he did notice the girl's red eyes sneaking glances at him from time to time. As the behavior had carried for the second day in a row, he started to wonder if he had said something weird to her back when they met…

His train of thought, however, was cut short by the pink-haired figure of Stella making her way to the podium at the center of the stage. A lot of the older students immediately started cheering for her, which she sheepishly answered with a wave of her gloved hand. Clearly, the charismatic woman was extremely popular.

She gripped the edges of the prodium with both of her hands and leaned into the microphone with a big grin on her face.

"Hello~" She greeted, "Good Morning Everyone, it's Stella!"

Once again the students cheered, male and female alike.

Sousou was surprised, "She's almost like an Idol or something."

"Ain't that right…" Rie muttered next to him, looking around to see the staff members trying -and mostly failing- to keep everything under control.

The pink-haired hero beamed, "First things first; On behalf of everyone in the Kirisaki Academy staff, I want to welcome our returning students for yet another exciting year full of possibilities and opportunities!"

She then cast her sight downwards, to where the newcomers were.

"But most importantly, I wish to give a warm welcome to our new class of 1st Years; From Class 1-A in the Hero Course, to Class 1-M in the special education department…" She motioned at them with her arms, "Welcome to Kirisaki, everyone!"

The entire student body and staff erupted into a round of applause, with some of the louder individuals outright whistling and shouting words of encouragement. Some of them wishing them luck, others telling them to work hard; It was a strange feeling, but it somehow didn't feel out of place.

"This is kinda… too much…" Okimi said, feeling herself shrinking a little under the pressure of everyone's cheers.

Soon enough, Stella raised her hand and everyone slowly went quiet again.

"As with every new year, this one comes with its fair share of fun changes and additions~" She continued, "Thanks to our Mr. Principal's hard work, two entirely new training facilities have been built and are almost completed after the vacation break! We sincerely hope you make the most out of them as you work to improve yourself, whether that's on the Hero Course or otherwise!"

A smaller round of applause followed, which seemed to be more of the acknowledgement type.

Stella went on to give a small overview of the changes in rules, regulations, class schedules, staff positions and other seemingly boring details that she nonetheless had a way of captivating the students with. Whether it was her body language, her natural charm, the atmosphere in the auditorium or all of them combined, it seemed that she was the sort of person that people naturally enjoyed listening to.

After several more minutes of the presentation, the Hero finally arrived to the point Shirou had been anxiously expecting.

"And with that, the informational segment of the Entrance Ceremony has concluded." She said, and Shirou gulped down, "Now, Kirisaki Academy's Principal, Fubuki Hyoga-san will speak a few words~"

The entire auditorium went silent, save for a few people in Class 1-A.

"Wait... Fubuki?" The rainbow-haired Konton Yasei spoke up, "Like _our _Fubuki!?"

A staff member shushed the colorful teenager from the middle corridor, but that didn't stop another couple of people from murmuring. Shirou however, tried to avoid looking at his classmates.

Suddenly, a chill overtook the entire area. Even those who had never been exposed to it before could comprehend what it meant; a terrifying presence had just entered the room. The students could feel a heavy set of footsteps slowly but surely making its way to the podium from the backstage… and then they saw him.

A very large man in a gray suit, with short hair and a beard white as snow. He had a stern expression on his grizzled face, which had extremely strong and imposing features. He walked sure of himself, but not arrogantly; with elegance that seemed to fit his position. Every single pair of eyes in the entire room was glued to him, but the man didn't seem to pay any mind whatsoever.

The wooden podium creaked as soon as he grabbed onto it; not because of his grip, but because of how fast it had cooled down after being touched by his skin. His gray eyes scanned the room, until he finally nodded to himself.

"First off…" His rough voice began, lifting the spell-like trance he had placed upon almost everyone, "I thank every one of you for continuing to place your trust in this Academy."

The Principal bowed his head earnestly; and while it may have been appropriate, everyone was too scared to applaud. It was almost anticlimactic in a way.

"I built this Academy from the ground up for a reason." He began, "Many years ago, as a young man, not much older than some of you… I had a vision."

Shirou tensed up at the look in his grandfather's face, it was a look he knew too well, and it made his blood boil.

"I dreamt of a world where anyone could be a Hero if they truly deserved it." The old man said, "A world where being a Hero isn't just for the strong and the powerful, but for the selfless and the altruistic. This Academy was built on that principle, to nurture not only the next generation's power and skill, but also their character. Some of you here are still young and rough, while others are closer to this ideal from the moment they first walked through our doors."

The Principal looked around for a moment and nodded to himself, "However, every single one of you is here because you truly deserve it."

Finally, the students applauded him. Starting with the eldest, but slowly making their way down to the youngest as well. Shirou, however, sat completely still. Fubuki Hyoga appeared to be scanning the auditorium, looking at everyone's faces. However, his eyes eventually landed on his grandson. The white-haired boy felt a terrible chill run down his spine as his grandfather stared straight into his eyes, he felt pressure unlike any he had felt in a very long time.

The sound of everyone cheering was completely drowned out, and soon enough, there was only his grandfather. The old man's look wasn't one of contempt, or even of guile. Until, suddenly, a faint smile formed on the Principal's face. Shirou didn't know what the smile meant, or why he had even smiled in the first place. Was it a mere acknowledgement of his presence, or a challenge of some sort?

"And now…" He started once again, "Some words from one of the freshly arrived generation's most promising students. He is someone who, we believe, represents this Academy's values as much as anyone else."

The audience's murmurings picked up once again, but he continued, "From Class 1-B, Ishida Souji-kun."

Shirou's heart skipped a beat once upon hearing the name, and then once more when he saw the blue-haired boy walking onto the stage from behind the curtains. He walked toward the podium with hesitant steps, nodding at the Principal who made way for him. His Uniform fit him a tad too large, his bowl-cut a tad too unkempt.

It was Souji alright.

"Yoooooo!" Yasei nearly stood up, pointing his finger at Souji from his seat. A lot of the class had similar reactions, after all, they had all assumed the boy hadn't made it in until that moment.

"No way! Dude, it's frickin' Souji!" The rainbow-haired teenager continued, only to be shushed down again by the staff. Some of the girls cheered, and most of the ones who had been at the raiding party had at least some sort of smile on their faces.

Shirou merely watched in awe as his former teammate took a deep breath, and then lowered the microphone down to his height while being extremely careful not to drop it.

Souji cleared his throat quietly, and then began his speech.

* * *

The rest of the day had gone on rather quietly. Teachers from the various subjects had visited the class for the first time to introduce themselves personally and give a basic outline of the type of content they'd be covering throughout the First Term, but they wouldn't officially begin giving class until the next day. Class 1-A was rather excited to find out they would have Stella as their English teacher, and even more surprised by the fact that a lot of their subjects had to do with stuff like training and other hero-work related material. Apparently, Kirisaki's Hero Course gave much more importance to stuff like Law and Heroics than to literature and history. Still, the curriculum was overall impressive and way beyond the level of any average high school… much to the dismay of some students.

As the school hours waned and students started to head back home for the day, Shirou instead headed in the opposite direction and to the other side of the hallway. He leaned against the wall next to Class 1-B's door, and patiently waited as the students started to come out. Some of them would throw weird looks at him or try to make quiet comments that he would nonetheless hear, but the white-haired boy didn't care.

Finally and no less than a minute after the rest of the class, Souji walked through the door and was startled by the teenager standing next to it.

"Wah!" Souji let out, "F-fubuki-san?"

"Yo." He greeted casually.

The shorter teen collected himself, "I-Is something the matter?"

Shirou shook his head and started walking after the other students, which Souji took as an indication that he was merely wanting to head out with him. The pair walked next to each other, as the orange color of the evening sky tinted the inside of the hallway with a warm color. Souji pretty much already knew what the whole thing was about.

"...I did make it in, after all." He muttered, gripping his school bag tightly.

Shirou nodded, "We thought you didn't."

"Everyone wound up making it in didn't it? The people from the party…" The short boy had a nostalgic look about him, as if he was conflicted about something. He remembered the final showdown, and how he was unable to do anything other than serve as a decoy for Shirou and Sousou to take Artemis down.

Still, it was apparently that which had ultimately earned him the school board's attention during the Exam's aftermath.

Shirou nodded, and the pair continued to head downstairs. Everything was still confusing and not much made sense, as it rarely did with his grandfather, but them walking side by side in Kirisaki Academy uniforms felt oddly right.

"Say…" The white-haired boy began as they exited the school building. They now stood in red brick road leading to the academy's entrance.

"Why do you want to be a Hero?"

Souji was caught off-guard by the question, but his answer was a simple one.

"Because I made a promise," The shorter teen smiled earnestly, "To a very special person."

Shirou looked at Souji with ever so slightly widened eyes. He didn't understand who could be special enough to make someone put their life at risk in such a way. He who had grown up alienated and resented by his own family, all in the name of some twisted ideal...

"...is that weird?" Souji laughed nervously, scratching the back of his head.

Shirou shrugged, "I… don't know."

"But…" He continued, "I'm sure that special person is happy for you, whoever they are."

Souji smiled, "Thanks, Fubuki-san."

Shirou started walking again, but stopped a few steps away after he realized Souji wasn't following him. He turned around to see the blue-haired teenager longingly staring back up at the black towers of Kirisaki Academy, and then he spoke;

"Back during the Exam… you said you never wanted any of this." Souji looked back at him, a look of determination filling his face. "But… the fact that you're here… and that I'm here… don't you think everything happens for a reason?"

Shirou didn't move, but he could watch as a fire lit up inside Souji's chest.

"I have a weak Quirk, and my body isn't the strongest either… but…" He clenched his fist, "I'm going to fight for my dream… I'm going to become a Hero."

There it was again, that strange feeling inside his chest. Exactly the same as during the fight with Artemis, a feeling he couldn't understand yet. It made his heart beat fast, and it made his legs feel like running and jumping around for no reason.

"I don't know what your circumstances are… but, we're right here… right now." Souji continued,

"And this is…"

_Our Hero Academia._

* * *

_Next Time: Chapter 8 - Combat Training _

* * *

**This was certainly one of the slowest chapters as of yet, I think. There was really only a couple of points I wanted to get to with this chapter and I tried to do so while slowly expanding on some characters while sneaking in others. **

**I delayed this too much, I know… but y'know… health and stuff. **

**Like I said last chapter, we're slowly getting to the point where everyone will get their fair share of the spotlight. You can probably guess exactly how by looking at next chapter's title. **

**Thanks for bearing with me for this long and for your continued support of the story. **

**Truly, I wouldn't have gotten this far without the unbelievable response from you guys. Seeing your reviews truly brightens my day, but just knowing that there's people actually reading this is extremely humbling to me… anyhow, have a good day and see you next time.**


	8. 8 - Combat Training

**I've been pondering about having an opening/theme song for this story… do you have any suggestions? **

* * *

**Chapter 8 - Combat Training**

Their Wednesday began much like the previous two days.

Students would slowly start to arrive in the classroom, some earlier than others, some more enthusiastic than others. They'd chat with the people close to them (or pass notes, in the case of a certain blonde-haired girl) and then ultimately be sent back to their seats by either the bell or the bronze-haired student who had taken it upon himself to try and keep the class out of trouble. They were yet to take any actual, real classes, but they had definitely been kept busy by adapting to the new environment and getting ready to soak in all the knowledge that would be offered to them in the near future. Sadly, there was one thing Class 1-A did not expect.

"Now listen well!" The red-haired woman yelled as she stomped her foot on the floor, sending the entirety of 1-A jolting out of their desks standing at attention. Some were genuinely scared for their lives, other merely complying out of instinct.

Their Wednesday, however, turned out to be completely different to the previous two days.

"I have no idea why, but the Principal has put _me_ in charge of Hero Training!" The woman continued, "This means you are all mine, every single day for the next three years of your lives."

"_Our class just got hijacked by Artemis-san." _Shirou noted internally, remembering the fight during the Entrance Exam. He could still feel his entire skeleton trembling when her palms and elbows dug into his body with every blow. Sure, she ultimately wasn't as bad as she seemed to be, but she was still quite the personality… at least, the kind that you don't usually expect from a Pro-Hero.

The skittish homeroom teacher, Nanao, meekly approached the much taller woman. Their appearances contrasted heavily. One wore white and blue, and gave off an air of uncertainty and shyness. The other wore red and black, and gave off… an air.

"Um… Artemis-san…" She began, "This sort of training will only happen once a week…"

Displeased, the red-haired woman frowned. She turned her neck to face Nanao, who was immediately frightened by the fierce red eyes glaring at her.

"Weak!" She said, "If we want to beat these _dogs_ into shape, once a week is nowhere near enough!"

Okimi laughed nervously and muttered, "She… just called us dogs… didn't she?"

"That she did…" Itona replied in a whispering voice. It didn't seem to have gone unnoticed however, as Artemis shot them a serious stare that startled both the dark-skinned girl and the short statured boy.

After barging into their classroom first thing in the morning, it hadn't taken Artemis long to leave a strong impression on those who had yet to meet her first hand. The students had spent most of their time at Kirisiaki with their mild-mannered homeroom teacher so far, so suddenly having such a brash person arrive made the atmosphere completely different.

"I like it." Sousou spoke up from the first row, "You can shoot whatever at us, we're ready." He said confidently, earning him various types of looks from the rest of the classroom.

"You bet, let's just get to the ass-kicking already!" Rie followed, excited about finally getting to do something fun since arriving to the academy. She was tired of all the talking and introductions, and her body ached for some real action.

As others in the classroom started to rile up, Artemis smiled sadistically. Nanao could only worry and wonder what the famous -or rather, infamous- Pro-Hero would have her students do. The students were instructed to follow her down to the parking lot, as the training exercise would take place at the Disaster Simulation Complex; the same place where the entrance exam had taken place.

"Sensei!" Nishinoya Ken spoke up, "Should we change into our P.E Uniforms?"

Not sure about what to reply, an insecure Nanao left it up to Artemis to answer the young man's question. The tall woman however, merely shook her head. There was a slight smile in her red lips and finally she spoke.

"No need!" Artemis declared, "You'll be changing into something better."

"Something better…" Okimi pondered, "Sensei, do you mean _that_!?"

Most of the class turned back toward Artemis, who smirked smugly. She put her hands on her hips and puffed her chest out. Nanao could only look back and forth between her and her students, seemingly not in on the same information Artemis had.

"You'll see." She said, "Now get your asses moving!"

The students quickly got out of the classroom, this time in an orderly manner to avoid the last day's issues.

* * *

**Simulation Complex -**

The two teachers stood waiting outside of one of the control rooms situated on the walls of the training facility. It was located along the northern border of the area, where the landscape was that of smaller buildings and even some apartment complexes unlike the big towers and business buildings closer to the center.

It was still early, and the sky was clear. It was an overall nice morning with just about the perfect weather for being outside, but Nanao couldn't relax. She kept looking back and forth between her feet and the taller woman's back. Unlike Stella, who had been one of her Senpai back during her time as a student at Kirisaki, Artemis was a complete stranger. Well, almost a complete stranger. The woman's reputation preceded her, for better or for worse.

"What is it?" The redhead's cold voice asked, startling Nanao.

"N-nothing!" She replied, trying to look away. She was so intense, it was overwhelming to her. The way she could boss her class around like it was the simplest thing, she could never do that. It made her feel inadequate, much like a lot of other things. But she had to try her hardest, all those kids had been entrusted to her after all.

"Um…" She began with a shaky voice, "What will you have them do?"

"Fight each other, of course." She declared matter-of-factly, sending the shorter teacher into yet another startled reaction.

"E-eh!? Artemis-san, are you sure!?"

The woman smirked, "Yup, this is Combat Training. I know you did some of that when you were here, didn't you?"

Nanao reminisced of her time attending Kirisaki. Sure, this sort of training was pretty standard, but actual Student v. Student training was rare for First Years.

"Well…" She couldn't deny that accelerating the training process was in line with the Principal's goal to produce stronger Heroes, but it still felt too hasty to pit them against each other on the first day of training.

Her deep thoughts were interrupted by the sound of the control room's gates opening, and Artemis standing before them with a smug smirk on her face.

"How about we go pay our cubs a visit?" She asked, before stepping into the large building with an excited strut. "They should be done changing by now."

"W-wait for me!"

The younger teacher picked up her pace to reach Artemis, and the pair walked into the corridor leading interior had a metallic, almost bunker-like design with narrow corridors and artificial lighting lining the ceiling. Clearly, the building was designed to be able to withstand large amounts of damage and shock from any of the training exercises that would be happening nearby. There were two changing rooms on either side of the corridor, one for boys and another for girls, which had already been left empty. Finally they came to the actual control room's entrance, and pushed the hatch-like door open to step inside.

"Oh, they're here!" A female voice (which Nanao was already starting to recognize as Okimi Kayo's) called out as soon as the heavy door made a noise.

The homeroom teacher's violet eyes displayed surprise; not because of the rows upon rows of computers, monitors and camera screens lining the walls of the control room, but because of the outfits she saw her students wearing. From the intricate vine-like designs covering Sousou's torso and the flashy colors of Yasei's attire to the plain blue and cyan on Hibiki. All 20 students stood at the ready in their freshly made hero costumes.

"Cool, isn't it!? Sensei!" The rainbow-haired Konton Yasei stepped up to the front in his flashy costume, just as -or even more- colorful than his hair and differently colored eyes.

He posed in extravagant ways, which Miyuto (who wore white and gold) quietly replicated next to him. Her efforts went unnoticed however, as the young man's costume was just that… unique.

A gray-haired male behind him simply cringed at the suit of mismatched bright fuschia, violet, teal, lime and cyan.

"Dude… you're just… no." He was Kimura Hikaru, who was quickly becoming one of the more outspoken members of the group… and not always in a good way.

"Says the ninja." The mischievous Kakeru snickered at Hikaru's ninja-like costume, while he himself wore an elegant black suit (complete with a tailcoat) and a red dress shirt underneath.

Before any arguing could commence, Artemis shot the students a serious glare that sent them all falling back into line. The class could only cringe in unison, as they still didn't know exactly what awaited them.

"Enough games! This is an important day." Artemis declared, her voice resounding inside the room. "We have precious little time, so I will now explain the exercise."

The class nodded, watching as Artemis made her way to the biggest screen in the room. Apparently, a presentation complete with graphics had already been prepared for them.

"This exercise will take place exclusively in the Simulation Complex's Northern District!" She began, as the graphics behind her pinpointed the sector in a scaled 3D model of the entire area.

"The exercise is simple; Each round will consist of two teams of two members each competing to capture a Flag and deliver it back to their base. Of course, you are permitted to use any means necessary to impede the other team."

The display's graphics seemed to indicate that the two team's bases were each located on opposite sides of the district, with the flag -which wasn't actually a flag, but rather a spherical device- located somewhere in between them.

"And when I say any means necessary, I mean it." She continued, "This is a test purely made to evaluate your combat skill, as well as your judgement. You're all classmates, but this is a real competition; no playing nice!"

Murmuring could be heard all throughout the brightly illuminated room, which was quickly broken off by the fiery woman yelling that they had 5 minutes to prepare before she turned around enter one of the side rooms. Left to their own devices, the students broke formation and started getting ready for the task at hand.

Shirou took a deep breath to steady himself, he was a bit on edge just from the woman's sheer intensity. Well it was that and the hero costume he had been given by the school; The students were supposed to submit a form specifying what they wanted, but he hadn't bothered to do any of that. What he received, however, was something beyond anything he could have possibly come up with.

His hero costume consisted of a full-body, black colored jumpsuit. He, however, had decided to cover it up with an off-white dress shirt since he did not like how it looked on him. His legs were covered in two layers, one form-fitting and the other about as loose as a regular pair of trousers. So in reality, Shirou could have passed off as a somewhat formal-dressing civilian in his current attire… were it not for the high boots he was wearing, of course.

The sleeves from the jumpsuit actually ran down under the shirt's sleeves and all the way to his hands, ending up in fingerless gloves of some sort. He grabbed his wrists and felt the fabric with his fingertips…

It was an insulating material, there was no doubt it. His arms and his legs were being tightly hugged by a material that would help prevent the freezing of his limbs from reaching his chest, therefore increasing his stamina substantially… That was something his grandfather had specifically designed for him, there was no doubt about it. There was even some sort of padded armor plating on the jumpsuit's chest and shoulders, no doubt also designed to help keep his torso warm.

"Well, it was going to happen eventually." The white-haired teen was brought back to reality by a conversation happening a few feet away from him.

"I mean, what better way is there to get stronger than to fight for real!?" Rie continued, "I know I can't wait for _my _turn!"

"It's kinda sudden, but I sort-of get you." Okimi replied, standing to her side. "In the end, this is what Hero Training is mostly about… right?"

Rie cackled, "I don't care, I just wanna friggin' punch something~"

Clearly, some were more excited about the exercise than others. Shirou had already noticed that there were people who genuinely enjoyed fighting, but he still couldn't understand why someone would find it fun to potentially hurt other human beings. Sure, he'd gotten into fights in the past, but he'd never actually liked having to do so.

"Still…" Next to them, the long-haired Itona began, "It feels weird that we've barely gotten to know each other and we are already doing this kind of stuff…"

"C'mon Itona, it'll be fun!" The red-haired said, giving the shorter boy a slap on the shoulder. The poor teenager was sent out of balance, and could only laugh nervously as a response.

Okimi chuckled, "Now, now… let's try not to get anyone injured before the actual fights begin."

The trio suddenly noticed Shirou looking blankly at them.

"Ah, Fubuki-san." The tan-skinned girl waved her hand at him to make sure he wasn't just spacing out, "Is something the matter?"

The boy shook his head, "No… sorry for staring."

Rie, who was almost as tall as him, laughed, "No need to apologize, we're just having fun is all!"

Shirou nodded, "I see."

Rie, who was almost as tall as him, approached the boy with a raised eyebrow. She seemed to be inspecting his appearance, which made Shirou tilt his head in curiosity.

"It's kinda plain," She said, referring to his costume, "But I guess that works for you."

Shirou smiled and calmly replied, "Thank you."

"Dude, she's totally roasting you…" Okimi muttered.

The door to the side room Artemis had entered swung open, cutting short any and all conversations going around the control room.

"Shut your traps!" She yelled, "We're starting now!"

The woman, who wore her usual red-and-black sleeveless changshan, walked back to the front of the room. She stopped next to Nanao, who contrasted her in white-and-blue, and pointed to the screen behind her with her thumb.

"Pay attention now, this thing won't repeat itself!"

_[First Round]_

_Konton Yasei & Kurapati Itona_

Vs.

Arakaki Rie & Soru Dangan

"W-wha…!?" Itona, surprised, turned to face Rie who stood not even a couple of steps to his left. It wasn't the fact that he was going to fight in the first round that surprised him, but rather that he'd be facing one of the friends he'd been talking to just a few short moments prior.

The girl pumped her first, "Hell yeah, I get to go first!" She, unlike the short boy, didn't seem to care much about anything.

All the other way to the other side of the room, the brown-haired Dangan yawned. As usual, he wasn't very enthusiastic.

"Oh well… might as well get it over with." He lamented, separating himself from the steel-plated wall he had been leaning against.

Not much farther from him, the ever-colorful Yasei produced noises of excitement unknown to the rest of mankind. The boy was so done being locked inside the control room and just wanted to get out there and have some fun, that much was easy to see.

Itona looked at his rainbow-haired teammate with worry.

"I wonder if we'll be okay…" The purple-eyed teen muttered, before making his way out to the field.

* * *

**[First Battle] **

A few minutes had passed, and the two teams had been each led to the separate locations that would serve as their base. With the single objective of bringing back the _flag_ back to the starting point and the instruction to use any means necessary, the two pairs of students set out to do the best job they could. The flag would be located in a construction site somewhere between the two bases, and that's all the young teenagers were told.

Dangan sighed, before using his palm to shield his eyes from the bright morning sun. It was still a bit chilly outside and he was thankful for that, at the very least. As far as everything else was concerned...

He really didn't have any inclination for this sort of task.

"Oi,"

His teammate called him out, yet another annoyance in his morning.

"Start getting ready now," Rie said harshly, "The match is about to begin."

The brown-haired boy looked off to the side and shrugged, "Sure, sure-…!?"

He suddenly found himself getting punched in the arm by the red-haired girl. Her pale red eyes stared at him intensely; she was clearly displeased with his attitude.

"Ow, what was that for!?" The boy complained, cradling his right arm with his left. The punch had sent waves of pain throughout the whole limb. Clearly, the girl was not one to mess with.

She pointed a gloved finger straight at him, "You're getting the rest of the beating if we lose because of you!"

"Geez…" He rubbed his sore arm from the surface of his black jacket, which was the main element of his hero costume. The pain had woken him up alright, but just the

A few moments later, a loud buzzing noise coming from a nearby horn marked the start of the match. The teenagers left their base (which was just an empty alley) and started making their way to the construction site, which was clearly visible several blocks down the main street. They were several hundred yards away, but they could make out the shape of a building's steel beam skeleton and building cranes.

"Alright!" Rie said as they ran, "You shoot them with your finger thing... and I beat them up."

Dangan rolled his eyes. _Finger Thing _she called it, unbelievable.

The duo made it to the site at a moderate pace, and quickly hid behind a massive concrete pipe that was just beside the road. Dangan scanned the area with his golden eyes, but could not detect any movement.

"Do you see it?" Rie asked in a hushed whisper, "The ball thing."

"The _flag._" The boy corrected, just as he looked up to the top of the construction. About a third of the unfinished building was already three stories high, while the remaining portion looked like it had barely just started to be worked on. It took him a while since the entire area glimmered under the sunlight, but his trained eyes finally spotted what appeared to be a small and round object near the very top of one of the cranes.

Dangan pointed at it, "There… but how are we even supposed to get all the way up there…?"

With the objective suspended up at least a hundred feet into the air, it was a long climb up and out in the open. Any mistake or unfortunate enemy attack would, in turn, mean a long fall down. And given that they were up against Yasei, literally anything could happen.

"Man… what a pain in the ass." He sighed, turning around to lean back on the concrete pipe and think for a second. Once again, Kirisaki had succeeded in hiding a rather complicated situation under the guise of a simple exercise. Sure, they could try to brute force it, but there was no telling what kind of chaos would ensure.

Dangan closed his eyes and let his body relax, "Well, nothing to do but wait..."

Silence. Rie did not answer his words, nor did she even make a sound of acknowledgment. Dangan turned around, only to find that the girl had leapt over their cover and started sprinting toward the building crane. Choosing to act rather than react, Arakaki Rie had taken matters into her own hands.

"Just come out already!" She yelled. The tall girl leapt onto the tower crane's ladder, forcefully making her way up several steps at a time. She climbed and climbed, pulling herself up with her powerful limbs. Dangan could only watch from below, and he quickly went back to scanning their surroundings. He grabbed his right wrist with his left hand and readied his index finger, producing a single bullet of solidified golden light.

_Student: Soru Dangan_

_Quirk: Shining Bullet_

_He can absorb the power of light to generate powerful bullets of golden energy. Light sources other than sunlight work as well! _

Just a tiny peek, that's all it took. Just the slightest hint of movement in his peripheral vision. Dangan turned his body to the side and fired one of his bullets at a blurring target. The golden projectile hit a concrete pillar, carving a hole in its side. And behind it; a pair of shocked purple eyes.

"Eek!" Itona shrieked from behind cover. He had only narrowly made it, a second too early or too late and the shining bullet would have found its mark. He wore a short-sleeved white shirt with a purple protective vest, but getting hit by one of those things would've hurt no matter where it landed.

Dangan didn't waste a second and concentrated his power into his arms. More than a dozen small orbs of light formed around his limbs, which were then shot forward with incredible speed and power with just a motionf of his arms. The bullets struck the pillar and quickly carved holes into it, causing it to come crumbling down and sending the small boy hiding behind it running in yet another direction and behind even more cover.

The brown-haired boy took a deep breath, he really didn't expect (or want) to be doing this on a Wednesday morning. When he left his home earlier, he had assumed he'd just spend another boring day sleeping through class. Boy, was he wrong.

He was brought back to reality by the sound of another projectile whipping through the air and zooming in on his direction. He turned around and fired one of his own bullets to meet the incoming mass of dark energy, but it was already too close. After being hit by the bullet, the dark matter exploded into a sonic boom-like shockwave of compressed air that sent Dangan flying down the courtyard. It was yet another of the random effects belonging Yasei's Chaos Quirk.

Dangan managed to twist himself and keep his body under control, landing in a crouching position but not before sliding back a few more feet.

The rainbow-haired teenager wearing the most colorful outfit in the class could be heard laughing, and walked out from behind a large eighteen-wheeler's container.

"I'm sorry, but you're not the only one here who can shoot crap at people~" He said, watching Dangan cough into a balled fist. He was slightly shaken up, but retained his usual bored expression.

Yasei conjured yet another mass of dark energy into his hand and shot it at Dangan, who quickly intercepted it with a bullet of his own. This time, the dark matter turned into a heavy orb of water that merely disintegrated mid-flight and splashed down on the ground between the two teenagers.

"Ah well…" Yasei shrugged, "That was a bad one anyway."

Using his chance, Itona rushed from behind cover and jumped toward the tower crane. His long cream-colored hair turned into the shape of a claw and grabbed a hold of the structure, before pulling the rest of his body up with incredible power. The action repeated itself time and time again, and the small boy acrobatically climbed up the tower much faster than merely climbing a ladder would allow.

Dangan aimed his finger at the boy's small body and fired a bullet, only for it to be intercepted by one of Yasei's. The dark matter exploded into a fiery torrent of fire several dozen feet up in the air, sending the brown-haired boy's attention back to the smug-looking, colorful individual.

Yasei wagged his finger at Dangan, who stood up to face him.

He really, really didn't want to be doing this right now.

* * *

_Meanwhile…_

Arakaki Rie had made her way up to the crane's arm, and was currently balancing her way towards the spherical device that had been designated as the flag. She wasn't extremely high up in the air, but definitely way higher than any other building in the nearby area; a fall from such a distance would certainly be dangerous, no doubt about it.

She could already hear the sounds of fighting below her, and slowly regretted not waiting a couple more minutes. She knew the flag was the real objective, but she'd much rather be down there duking it out.

The red-haired young woman, like a tightrope walker, used her arms to keep her body straight as she walked. She wasn't afraid of heights, but she sure as hell didn't want to run into any distractions up there.

"Especially pigeons…" Rie muttered, still concentrated. "Fuck those thin- UWA!?"

A sudden bump in the tower made her lose her balance, which made her flail her arms around in an attempt to steady herself. After a moment to collect herself, she quickly realized that the bump hadn't come from the base of the crane… it was much closer than that. She turned around and saw the tan-skinned Kurapati Itona, swinging around the tower with a claw made from his long ponytail.

Rie frowned, "You've gotta be kidding me…!"

She picked up her pace, but it was too late. Just as she was about to take the object into her hands, a large hand made from light-colored hair swiped it right from beneath them.

_Student: Kurapati Itona _

_Quirk: Limbtails_

_He can transform his hair into the shape of arms or legs, they are way stronger than his normal body! _

"I- I'm sorry!" Itona yelled, using half of his hair to hold onto the crane's arm and the other to bring the spherical object into his actual hands. He quickly turned around and started swinging back to the main tower, but the fiery girl wouldn't have it.

Rie recklessly threw herself inside the crane's hollow arm, "Oh no, you won't!"

She grabbed one of Itona's hair-arms before he could swing it away, and didn't let go. Like a game of tug-of-war, they each pulled in opposite directions. Itona with his limbtails, and Rie with her powerful arm. The tower's frame creaked and groaned under their might, so much that the steel bars making it up started to bend where they held onto them.

"Gh!" Itona yelped. It felt like his hair would be torn away from his head. To make matters worse, he was swinging freely at least a hundred feet in the air. With nowhere else to go, he let go of the crane's arm and let himself be pulled up by Rie. His body was thrown back up to safety, but only to be met by a savage assault.

"Haa!" The redhead charged, no longer caring about balancing herself as much. She punched and kicked, all while still holding Itona's hair. The dark skinned boy could only evade and parry with his remaining tail, but he was slowly becoming overwhelmed by the relentless charge.

He pulled the limbtail Rie was holding, hard, and a popping sound was heard. It was the lower half of Rie's arm, which had separated itself from the rest of her body but still continued to hold its mighty grip.

"This is…!" Itona's eyes widened at the sight, just as the separated hand started to crawl its way up his hair and inched in on his face.

_Student: Arakaki Rie_

_Quirk: Undead_

_Her body is pretty much like a Zombie's! She can also detach her limbs and control them separately from her main body. _

Rie grinned sadistically. It was evident in the way her skin was patchy and discolored in places, as well as in the stitches circling around her left shoulder. Her body was not that of a regular living being's. Soon enough, Itona found himself with Rie's separated hand making it hard for him to move around while Rie kept coming at him.

Suddenly, the entire structure shook, sending both of them down and struggling to hold on to the crane's arm. Itona looked down and saw smoke rising up from the ground, coming from the base of the tower. In the midst of the battle at the ground level, one of Yasei's Chaos Bullets had been deflected and struck the crane; severely damaging it.

"What the-!?" Rie shouted, gripping a metal bar tightly with her remaining hand.

The crane groaned louder than it had done before. Luckily for the two teenagers standing on top of it, the attack that had struck the tower had melted its steel frame. The crane started slowly bending forward and out of shape, giving Itona and Rie enough time to escape from it. They jumped down and landed on top of the unfinished building, while the tower eventually crashed down beside it.

The crane's forceful landing sent a cloud of dust and sand up in the air, which expanded to cover the entirety of the construction area. Itona, who still held the flag, continued to struggle to get Rie's detached hand away from his head; to no avail.

_What should I do? _He wondered. The cloud hanging in the area restricted his vision to only a few feet around him, and the deafening noise of the steel tower being crushed under its own weight. Coupled with the fact that he struggled to get his classmate's dismembered limb out of his now extremely messy hair, he felt pressured and disoriented.

After taking a short breath, he clutched the _flag _tightly against his chest.

"If anything… I must get back to Konton-san!" He muttered, and took his first step forward.

Not even into his second step, and he felt movement behind him. The heavy sort. Itona turned around to see the cloud of dust deforming in his direction, and the outline of a person behind it. It didn't take long for Rie's leg to materialize behind the smog, nor for it to kick him hard on the side.

"Gah…!" Itona yelped as his body was sent flying several feet in the air. He lurched in pain, but was able to use his hair to control his fall; retaining his balance. He looked up and noticed that Rie had finally removed her hand from his hair, and casually re-attached it to her arm with a slight twisting motion.

"I'm sorry," Rie said blankly, pointing at the artifact still in Itona's possession "-but I'll be taking that."

The boy smiled nervously, clutching the sphere even more tightly. He was ready to run, and Rie was ready to chase. Any hope of either, however, was terminated by a certain rainbow-haired individual.

"Just give up already!" Yasei's voice was heard from somewhere down below, and soon after a random projectile made up of unstable dark matter was shot their way. It struck the top edge of the building, transforming into a fiery torrent of fire.

Itona's eyes widened. The entire area was saturated with dust from the construction materials, such as sawdust and metallic compounds. The densely packed cloud reacted with the fire's heat and rapidly expanded in a powerful dust explosion, violently tossing both Rie and Itona away from the construction.

The dark skinned boy wrapped his hair around his body to absorb the impact from hitting the ground, but was surprised to find himself falling into somebody else's arms. He opened his eyes to find a panting Dangan, who looked at the scene with a conflicting expression and then back down at him.

"Man…" He said, observing the crumbling building. "This is such a bother…"

Itona quickly stepped up and away from him. He had saved him by breaking his fall, but they were still on opposite , he merely observed as the taller teenager raised both of his hands in a sign of defeat.

"Go," Dangan said quietly, "Get away from here before she gets back."

"E-eh?" Itona was puzzled at his opponents unexpected surrender.

The teenager sighed, "Hurry up… if we're lucky nobody will know what happened."

Finally catching on, Itona nodded.

"Thank you, Soru-san." The shorter teenager bowed slightly, "You're a really nice person."

And with that, the long haired Itona set out to return to his base; leaving Dangan behind. The brown haired teenager stretched his shoulders and sat down on a nearby bench. He leaned back and took a deep breath.

Man, was he gonna get yelled at later.

* * *

_**[Second Round]**_

_Shiraishi Kirina & Suehiro Hibiki_

_Vs._

_Kimura Hikaru & Kiyamota Miyuto _

Kirina ran along the length of the building's corridors. The albino girl's body was close to the ground, making it look as if she was slithering rather than sprinting. She was being chased by someone, but she still retained her usual composure. For her round, the flag had been placed somewhere inside a large business building with floor after floor of corridors, offices and cubicles.

The snake-girl turned corner after corner, as if doing her best to make her movements as unpredictable as possible. She had already recognized a pattern in the layout of the building, so navigating it had become easy. And she did not need her extremely powerful sense of smell to locate her pursuer, since the person in question -as per usual- made sure that she was heard despite her lack of speech.

"...!"

Kirina's eyes widened as the wooden cubicle wall next to her burst open, and she narrowly managed to evade the golden-haired girl's grasp. Miyuto wore a very futuristic-looking suit that drew a lot of attention, perfect for her specific ability.

The white-haired girl backflipped twice to separate herself from Miyuto, who was again starting to power up from her attention. Contrary to her usual sweet demeanor, the shining girl seemed to be taking the bout as seriously as anybody.

Miyuto dashed forward powerfully, letting out a barrage of strikes aimed at the only slightly smaller girl. Kirina was on her heels, only barely able to dodge the powerful blows. She somersaulted over the golden-haired girl and landed on a desk behind her, but she was forced to flee once again as it was crushed under her assailant's heel only a split-second later.

But she was being drained, faster than usual; also an effect of Miyuto's Quirk. She was too late on her recovery, and one of Miyuto's powerful blows found its way into her stomach. She compared it to the red-haired woman she had faced during the Entrance Exam. Artemis' blows dug deep into your body, as if she was punching _through_ you. They made your entire skeleton tremble and turned your legs into wet noodles; the result of long years of ceaseless training and experience. Miyuto's however, hit like a literal truck. They were wild and unrefined, but it felt as if your whole body had been shoved at the same time.

Kirina's white dress provided little protection against direct hits, but she still managed to land on her feet while supporting her weight with one of her arms. The two silent girls looked at each other, both panting heavily.

Almost as if apologizing, Miyuto tilted her head and waved her golden gloved hand at Kirina. She truly wanted to make sure she was alright, but the white-haired female would have none of it. She merely glared at her even harder, startling Miyuto a bit.

Realizing she wasn't going to get anywhere in a straight-up fight (Miyuto's All Eyes on Me being too powerful for her in such a scenario), Kirina turned tail and fled back into the safety of the corridors. Unlike the fake bombs of the entrance exam, the _flag _wasn't being very helpful as far as finding it was concerned. There was no smell, no slight vibrations, no nothing.

Such thoughts filled her head, even with a (now teary eyed) steamroller chasing behind her. Even with the pain in her stomach, she still managed to acrobatically jump over pieces of furniture and even run along the length of walls for a few seconds.

Her sensitive eyes quickly reacted to the slightest glimmer of a silver coin flying her way, which she immediately caught and threw behind her back aimed at her pursuer.

Before Miyuto could change directions, a bright blue light blinded her vision. She soon found herself stumbling and crashing straight through a wall, as Hibiki had materialized out of nothingness to trip her feet with his own foot.

Hibiki and Kirina looked at each other blankly, though both of their breathings were accelerated. They'd been on the run from the moment they entered the building.

"Did you find it?" Hibiki asked plainly.

"No." Kirina replied matter-of-factly.

"I see."

And with that, the incredibly quiet duo went silent again. They turned their attention toward the person-sized hole Miyuto had left on the wall, expecting her to come crashing out of it at any moment.

Instead, they were startled to see 5 strings of shining light shooting out in their direction. Kirina was able to get out of the way, but the silver-colored constructs managed to quickly wrap themselves around her dark blue-haired teammate.

"...!" Hibiki's arms were forced against the sides of his body as the shining wires constricted him, and on the other end was the smirking figure of a tall gray-haired young man.

The new adversary scoffed, "About time we stopped running, wouldn't you say?"

Hibiki tried to struggle against the five strings shooting out of his other classmate's fingers, but could only feel his own energy leaving his body quicker and quicker. The silver light from the wires became even brighter, as it quickly drained the teenager's energy.

_Student: Kimura Hikaru _

_Quirk: Soul Strings_

_He can create strings of light that drain energy from his targets. The more energy they absorb, the stronger they become! _

Hikaru grinned, slicking back his gray hair with his free hand.

"Let's see…" He started, "How about I put you to sleep? Wouldn't want you to keep interfering in our search, after all."

Not deigning herself to talk back to the cocky young man, Kirina rushed at Hikaru. She was intercepted however, by another wild swing from a dashing Miyuto. The two girls locked eyes briefly, and the white-haired Snake Kin was forced to flee once again- much to her own frustration.

"Hah!" Hikaru mocked, "That's too bad for you, I suppose."

With each passing second, Hikaru's grip on Hibiki grew stronger and stronger as the shorter teenager's energy was zapped from his body. He had given up on trying to squirm his way out of the entanglement, and his eyes quietly darted from one side to the other in search for options.

"What? Why won't you teleport away just like you did before?" The gray haired teenager prodded, slowly pacing around the restrained Hibiki.

"Something the matter?" Hikaru smirked, watching his classmate's body starting to deteriorate. Hibiki was starting to turn pale now, both from the constriction and from his stamina being drained from his body. Eventually, he hung his head and his legs started to crumble beneath him.

"Man," Hikaru said, approaching the immobile Hibiki. He leant forward, trying to hear any signs of breathing.

"Ain't that a sha- MMMF!?"

Hikaru's eyes widened as his lips were forcibly shut. He felt a sensation that he had never experienced before, that of another person's warm lips brushing against his own. Hibiki's copper eyes stared straight into his own silver orbs, and he immediately felt his face burning up into a furious blush. He pushed the smaller teenager away from himself and stumbled backwards, almost falling on his behind from the sheer shock.

"Y-y-you ki- _kissed _me!?" The teenager furiously wiped the lower half of his face with the white sleeve of his outfit, his perplexed face still red as a tomato. And when he finally turned to look at his assailant… he was nowhere to be seen.

And then, before he could process the situation, a flash of blue light blinded his vision. It was Hibiki, materializing right in front of him and away from his Soul Strings. The dark-haired teenager, who remained stoic throughout the whole commotion, spun in mid-air to aim a reverse kick at Hikaru- who could barely react.

"GAH!" Hikaru took Hibiki's heel straight to the jaw and was flung backward, but managed to turn around and prepared to shoot his Soul Strings once again. By the time he had raised his arm however, Hibiki had disappeared once again.

Hikaru frowned, "What the… UGH!?"

Another flash of light, and this time it came with a punch straight to the gut. Hikaru fell on his knees and then on his side on a fetal position, the wind knocked out of him.

Hibiki stood above him, his face revealing nothing but a slight expression of disdain as the gray-haired teenager groaned and trembled on the floor.

_Student: Suehiro Hibiki_

_Quirk: Peek-A-Chu_

_He can teleport himself to any object or person he can mark. He has to kiss them in other to mark them however! _

Hibiki wiped his mouth with the back of his hand and turned around without saying anything, leaving Hikaru behind both incapacitated and confused. He very much preferred to use small objects such as coins or pebbles to use his ability, but sometimes the situation called for some improvising… not that he disliked doing so, anyway.

He turned around to see Kirina running down the hallway with the flag on her hands, a perfectly still expression on her face as she fled down the building.

"I found it." She deadpanned as she passed him and kept on running down, heading toward the stairs.

Hibiki nodded, "Nice."

Once she reached Hikaru, she merely stepped over him as one would some garbage on the street. Hibiki then turned around to what was practically a girl-shaped wrecking ball coming down the hallway, and sighed as even more stamina was drained out of him by Miyuto's Quirk.

"I'm sleepy…" He muttered as he reached down to a hidden compartment in his trouser's back pocket, withdrawing a small silver coin from it. He slowly brought it up to his lips and kissed it delicately, before tossing it in Miyuto's general direction.

"Well… what's a black eye anyway."

A series of bright flashes of blue light illuminated the hallway, with Kirina being long gone by the time they were extinguished.

* * *

_Next Time: Chapter 9 - Combat Training Pt. 2 _

* * *

**Man, where to begin. **

**These past few weeks have been wild. But I can summarize them as me moving away from home for college and having to get used to this whole "living by myself" thing. It's been complicated but I'm managing well enough, if anything I'm almost proud of myself. **

**Anyhow, things are stable once again so updates should continue as normal. Is anyone even reading this story anymore, though? Man, sure hope so. **

**I originally didn't want to split the fights between two chapters, but it was unavoidable. This thing would have dragged on forever if i didn't and it was about time I put something out. Not to worry though, for I pretty much have all the fights planned already. **

**As a bit of a side announcement for those that have made it this far; I am going to be accepting characters for Class 1-B, as well as possibly other Teachers and Pro-Heroes. **


	9. 9 - Combat Training Pt 2

**I want to thank everyone who has been constantly reviewing the story all the way from its first days. Reading your comments that give me the inspiration to keep pushing forward through this. **

**I'm still slightly bummed that I had to split the main Combat Training into two chapters, but oh well, that's just how the cookie crumbles sometimes. **

**Before we go on, there's something I probably should have clarified last chapter: All of the teams and matches were determined randomly. I assigned a number to each character and used a randomizer to get the pairs set up, which means that most of this is unplanned and I'm coming up with the outcomes on the fly. **

* * *

**Chapter 9 - Combat Training Pt. 2 **

"_Mama...!"_

_The boy cried, restrained by the family's loyal manservant. He stretched his arm out, but his little hand could not reach the woman's back as it grew smaller and smaller in the distance. _

"_Don't leave me alone... mama!" _

_He was only a child when it happened, but the memory of that day haunts him to this day. Every night he sees it in his nightmares; that look. _

_The woman stopped before going through the door and turned her head around, and there it was. _

_Hatred. _

_Disgust. _

_Disdain. _

_Resentment. _

_Eyes that looked at him like he was the filthiest of trash. It was a cruel reality, really, as he didn't even remember what his mother's face looked like. _

_But he could never forget those eyes. _

_Eyes gray as his own. _

_Eyes that until that day had been the sole warm refuge in the cold of his life. _

"_Mama..." _

* * *

Shirou jolted awake, realizing he had been falling asleep in one of the control room's seats. Unfortunately, he had been leaning his head against the metal wall, leaving his neck sore. He rubbed it with his left hand as he straightened himself, also making sure he hadn't accidentally frozen anything in his sleep- something which had happened many times in the past.

He touched the edge of the metal chair and confirmed that he had saved himself the trouble of a -potentially- very long and mildly embarrassing explanation, although it did feel somewhat cold even to his touch.

He sighed, making a mental note of never falling asleep in public like that again, and finally stood up to observe the situation in the room; shaking his head to leave the thoughts of his dreams behind. The past was the past.

Everyone appeared to have assembled around the returning teams from the second match, with some sort of commotion going on in the middle of the small crowd. Curious, he walked over to them.

What he saw was the oddly bizarre sight of Miyuto effusively bowing in apology before a heavily bruised -and sitting- Hibiki, who did his best to calm the golden-haired girl down.

"Truly… I'm fine." He said, trying to get the guilt-ridden young woman to calm down. All she could do in response was shake her head and continue to wordlessly apologize, leaving the class with no idea as to how to act.

Kakeru snickered, "That face is lame~"

He was referring to the swelling on Hibiki's face, which made him look like he had been stung by a dozen bees. Apparently he had -quite literally- sacrificed his own face so that Kirina could make it all the way to their base with the Flag.

"You better stop laughing or I'll leave you looking worse" Rie commented, still in a foul mood after having lost her own match. Itona and Dangan could be seen standing as far away from her as possible, clearly not wanting to address the issue with her.

"Uhm…"

Nanao stepped in, "Artemis-san went to fetch the Head Nurse." She said, "I-in the meantime, she said the third match's teams should start getting ready…"

The whole class' heads turned to the beeping monitor, which read as follows;

_[Third Round]_

_Taiyo Kaito & Kagehira Misao_

Vs.

_Tanso Rani & Nishinoya Ken_

"Ohh!" Rani grinned, clearly excited to get going. She had gotten excited watching the first two matches from the control room, as was ready to get going herself. She quickly made her way to the exit, where she took a handout with the instructions for the match and waited for the door to open so she could head out.

The bronze-skinned Nishinoya pumped his fist and followed after her, "It's finally time!"

Kaito and Misao merely exchanged a nod and did the same, leaving the room for the moment.

"Does it hurt, Hibiki-kun?" Okimi asked, barely keeping herself from poking the swollen side of the nonetheless stoic young man.

The dark blue-haired teen sighed, "I'll be fine… really"

Still not satisfied, Miyuto continued to pout and look guilty. Through hand signs and body language, it was very clear that she wouldn't settle down until something was done about the situation.

Suddenly, Yasei snapped his fingers.

"I know what to do!" Somehow, everyone highly doubted the multi-colored teenager. Nobody said anything however, and just watched as he moved his head around looking for something. He then grinned as soon as he laid his eyes on Shirou, who he dragged by the wrist all the way over to where Hibiki was sitting.

"Fubuki-san can help make the swelling go away!" Yasei declared proudly, next to the slightly shorter teenager. "Right, Fubuki-san?"

"...But I'm not a steak." The white-haired boy complained.

Okimi stepped in as well, "Actually, that might work! At least until the Nurse gets here..."

"Oh! I like the idea." Sousou added. "If you make your hands really cold, couldn't they work like an Ice Pack?"

Shirou pondered on Sousou's suggestion, tilting his head slightly as he thought about it. He had been trained to reduce his own body temperature in order to reduce _his own _swelling, but he had never tried it on someone else… let alone someone else's face. But seeing the distressed Miyuto suddenly show a hopeful look on her face, he decided to give it a try.

He nodded and stepped in front of the sitting Hibiki, softly holding his hands slightly hovering over the bruised area. The copper-eyed teenager merely sat there motionless, his face showing just as little expression as Shirou's.

"Oh!" Okimi watched as a faint white glow started to envelop Shirou's hands, and a cool breeze enveloped both him and Hibiki. "How does it feel?"

"...Cold." Hibiki replied, still not very invested in the whole experience. It was hard to tell what went on inside the young man's head, but at the very least he didn't appear to be uncomfortable.

Moments later; everyone's attention was turned to the Control Room's entrance sliding open, and Artemis walking through the metal gate while being followed by a slightly taller adult man in what appeared to be a white lab coat. He wore glasses, had a slight stubble beard and appeared to be of just about average build.

"Oi!" Artemis called out, "What do you kids think you're doing!?"

She rushed over to where the kids had huddled up around Shirou and Hibiki, visibly annoyed.

"You're gonna freeze his damn cheeks off, you idiot!" Just as the red haired woman was about to slap Shirou away from Hibiki, something she was capable of doing with ease, the man behind her interjected.

"Ah, Artemis-san." He said in a hurried tone, "It should be fine, really."

The woman raised an eyebrow, but let the man walk past her and crouch down next to Hibiki.

"Let's see what we have here…" He started examining the bruises on the young man's face, holding him by the chin to turn his head from side to side. He muttered his observations in a low voice, before smiling satisfactorily. Hibiki noted that the man was wearing a simple brown sweater and a pair of jeans with some sneakers underneath his lab coat; very casual wear for a doctor.

The man turned to Artemis, "The swelling seems to have stopped for the time being, so I can probably just fix this up and go back to my office."

The woman nodded.

He then faced Hibiki, "You'll live, young man!". His large hand lightly tapped the bruised side of the teenager's face a couple of times, and the sound of something twisting and cracking could be heard. Hibiki reacted as if something had suddenly hurt him greatly, startling most of the students in the room.

"What was that!?" Itona asked, worriedly stepping forward.

Much to everyone's surprise, Hibiki let go of his face to reveal it being back to normal. His reddened skin was back to its usual color, and the swelling was pretty much completely gone.

"Ow…" He said quietly, and turned his eyes to the now laughing man.

"See? Everything's back to normal!" The man boasted, adjusting his thick-rimmed eyeglasses. He proudly watched as everyone admired and wondered at his handiwork, before being met by a barrage of questions.

"Oi, what was that!?" Asked Rie. The whole event had been enough to distract her away from the bitterness she was feeling.

The man smirked, "Well, it's what I do." He said, before turning to face all of the students.

"I guess I never introduced myself, did I? My name is Takemi Yotaro, I'm Kirisaki Academy's Head Nurse." The man was clearly some years older than Artemis, but there was an almost childish and innocent aura to him. Still, the fact that he had been chosen for such an important position spoke volumes about his qualifications.

He motioned to Hibiki, "What you saw just now is my Quirk, _Fixer_. It basically allows me to repair physical damage to both living organisms and everyday items… within reason, of course."

"Ah, of course, I'm also a fully licenced physician and chiropractor."

"That's such a cool Quirk~" Okimi wondered at how fortunate it was that such a Quirk wound up in the hands of someone devoted to helping others.

The messy-haired Yotaro bowed to the class, "I look forward to working with you guys in the future, though… hopefully not _too _much." He smiled sheepishly, causing Artemis to roll her eyes.

"Alright, enough is enough!" She declared, "We don't have all day."

The two adults bickered for a few moments, but eventually the whole class was dispersed as the third round of combat training began.

* * *

**[Third Battle]**

"And I say~!"

A girl's voice echoed along the empty fake city streets, though it more than made up from the lack of life and activity.

"One, Two! One, Two!"

Tanso Rani cheerfully marched her way down the sidewalk, swinging her arms back and forth with pristine form and elegance. Her steps however, were more like skipping that marching. Her brown braid bobbed up and down as she went, while the hood from her form-fitting and sleeveless green zip-up did the same. She was on the thinner side when compared to her classmates, but she had a look of liveliness and cheerfulness that rivaled them all.

"Could you please wait a second, Tanso-san!?" Behind her, a sturdily and stocky built young man followed in a less amicable mood. His voice was muffled by the golden mask he wore, and his torso protected by a thick yellow protective vest with a black gear design on its back.

Still merrily skipping along, Rani tilted her head to the side and shot the anxious young man a sideways glance.

"What is it, Ken-kun~?" She sang, twirling on her feet and resuming her stroll.

Nishinoya sighed, "What do you _mean _what is it? Do you even know what you're heading into?"

"The market? That's where the Flag is supposed to be, isn't it?" The girl replied. Though one might not guess it from their attitudes, the two teammates were actually exactly the same height.

"Wait a second," Nishinoya began, removing his mask momentarily. "That's not what this is about!".

"Isn't it?" Rani asked, stopping momentarily. The issue with her wasn't overconfidence or even recklessness; The bronze-skinned teenager could tell that his teammate was just completely, wholeheartedly unworried by what they could be facing.

"We can't just waltz in there and take the flag, the other team will be trying to get it as well." Nishinoya stated matter-of-factly. For at least one of their two opponents, they had no real idea of what their true capabilities were. A passing display of their Quirk during the Show and Tell was not much to go on.

"Hmmm… is that so?" Rani pondered, but ultimately didn't stop and kept walking whilst humming a tune- much to Nishinoya's dismay. He eventually gave up and let it pass, following the young woman in their journey to the location where the Flag had been hidden.

The pair walked down a few blocks and finally arrived to their destination. Nishinoya observed the building; It was a medium-sized market surrounded by the open space of a vacant parking lot. It appeared to be a single story building, with large window panels lining its walls. Through them, dozens upon dozens of empty wooden shelves of varying heights and colors could be seen. It was a very unassuming building, one you would never expect to become the site of a practice battle between Hero students.

Nishinoya observed the area carefully, but could not make out any signs of movement.

"Well then, what do you-" He turned toward Rani, only to find her already skipping her merry way to the building.

The teenager sighed and followed after the girl. He kept his eyes peeled for any sort of trouble, but was once again unable to detect anything even as they stepped out into the open. The walk through the open area of the parking lot was stressful for him, but Rani once again didn't seem to worry too much about it.

Nishinoya put his mask back on and followed his teammate into the desolate-looking market store. They pushed open the glass doors and stepped inside to the smell of stillness and dust, clearly the building hadn't been disturbed much since its construction. There wasn't even the slightest sign of the Complex's robots coming in to set the Flag in place, nor of the other team coming through the front door. It was also dark inside, with the only light in the building being the one coming through the windows.

"Let's split off and…" Nishinoya need not say anything, as the slim girl had already started making her way to the left side of the store. "Of course."

The bronze-haired teen went to the right side and into one of the aisles, making sure to be as quiet as possible. He walked on his tip-toes, with knees bent to make sure his head couldn't be seen peeking out from above the wooden shelves. His eyes scouted the area, looking for the slightest indication of the object they'd set out to look for.

After repeating the same process for a couple aisles, Nishinoya's eyes finally appeared to make out what appeared to be the outline of a round object. Wasting no time, he jogged his way over to the sphere in question and called out to his teammate.

"Oi, Tanso-san-!"

"I found it!" The girl's voice interrupted him from the other side of the market, and Nishinoya became visibly confused. If _he _found it, and _she _found it… then what in the world was going on.

He crouched down to examine the object, sitting alone in the darkness. It was somehow… darker than he expected the Flag to be. It was also somewhat transparent, as if it were made from a clear material. Upon even closer examination, the object appeared to have an ominous aura about it. He stood up, perplexed.

"Tanso-san, I don't think this is-"

A bone-chilling scream belonging to the girl almost made Nishinoya's heart stop.

"Tanso-san, what is it!?"

Before he could rush to her help, the shadowy sphere at his feet shook. At first only slightly, until it finally burst open and revealed its true form. It was that of a spider, which had been curled up into a ball all along. Nishinoya felt his blood freeze as the large creature vaulted up into the air, aiming for his face.

It was all mere instinct. The teenager clenched his fist, which instantly deformed into a sharp point and started spinning with furious force that disturbed the air around it.

_DRILL PUNCH! _

His spinning first impacted the grotesque creature, which exploded into a dark goo that quickly evaporated into nothingness. He recognized this ability; it had been a trap from the other team all along. He quickly rushed out of the aisle and started running in Rani's direction, but didn't notice as his body was forcibly shoved straight through a window and out of the building.

"W-what!?" His body flew for several meters, until he finally crashed against the asphalt of the parking lot. He turned his body around and saw the green-haired Kaito stepping through the window, wearing a black tank-top that exposed the entirety of arms.

Nishinoya didn't waste time wondering how he had been caught by surprise, and instead got back up to his feet. If he remembered correctly, Kaito could absorb sunlight to enhance his physical abilities. It was an early and clear morning, thus, the sun was already shining down unobstructed by any sort of cloud.

The bronze-skinned teenager readied his drill-hands as Kaito finally stepped out and under the sun, bearing ill-intent in those sharp eyes of his. He was much slimmer than Nishinoya, but his Quirk and the time of the day tipped the scales in his favor strength-wise.

They stood still for a second, measuring each other out. And then;

"...!" Kaito charged with unexpected speed, erasing the distance between them in the blink of an eye. Nishinoya let out a powerful haymaker in response, which was easily predicted. Kaito was the taller of the two by a fair amount, and thus, his reach was also longer. Ducking under the incoming drill, the thin teenager struck back at extremely close range. His fist hit Nishinoya square in the chin, sending his head recoiling backward. The young man steeled himself however, and continued the exchange.

Punches were thrown back and forth, with Nishinoya being unable to connect a solid hit on Kaito. Eventually his arm was grabbed by the taller teenager, and he was thrown back into the store with incredible power. The bronze-skinned teenager's body flew in through another window, leaving yet more shattered glass scattered on the ground.

"Im-impossible…!" Nishinoya groaned, struggling to get back up on his feet. "I can't fight him under the sun… and, in here…?"

He turned around to see Rani, fighting off more of the shadowy creatures. There were large insects such as spiders and scorpions, as well as larger beasts such as dogs and lions. And standing behind them all was the girl who had walked next to him back on the first day of school.

_Student: Kagehira Misao_

_Quirk: Shadowgraphy_

_She can create creatures from the shadows of her hands. The darker the shadow, the stronger the creature!_

The dark haired girl wore an all-black bodysuit lined with illuminated patterns, which lit up the area around her. She smiled plainly as she made the shape of a bird with her hands, which cast a shadow on the floor and almost immediately came to life.

_In here… it's not much better at all! _

"Found the two targets~" She said in an oddly monotone voice, slowly approaching the two classmates. There were no less than a dozen shadow creatures littering the aisle where she was standing, but she still charged straight at the two herself before commanding them to do anything.

Misao aimed a kick at Rani, but was met by the taller girl's hardened fist instead. Her powerful strike landed right on Misao's stomach, sending her flying back down where she came from. The lithe girl landed on her back, though she didn't let out even the slightest grunt or sign of discomfort. Instead she sat back up, a perfectly calm look still on her face. That's when they finally moved.

The shadow beasts pounced upon the standing duo, engaging them at close range. Claws, talons and fangs slashed their way. It was a fierce onslaught, and though none of them could get through Rani's hardened skin, their relentlessness left her unable to fight back properly. Nishinoya on the other hand, although managing to get rid of several of them with his drill punches, was ultimately unable to withstand the creatures and was thrown to the floor by a shadow hound.

"Gah! These things are tough…!" The teenager cried out, struggling to keep them away from his face.

Meanwhile, Rani had managed to free herself and ran away- trying to spread them out. At that point, however, she began to wonder just where the Flag could be. She turned around to see the eagle-like bird Misao had created earlier chasing her, baring its sharp talons at her. She turned around and blocked them with her hardened arm, easily keeping its sharp claws from even scratching her.

Rani was, however, pushed back all the way down to the store's counter. She crashed against it and her body flipped backwards over it, falling back on the other side. And right there, in a corner, she finally saw it. It was the Flag, this time for sure. She didn't waste any time grabbing it, and stood up while clutching it under her arm. By now, Nishinoya was starting to fight back against the now more spread out shadow monsters, but she could still see Kaito waiting for them outside. Misao was nowhere to be found, for the moment at least, but the tall girl did not worry about her.

She jumped back over the counter and made a beeline for the exit, trampling over everything in her way. She ran down the main aisle and straight through the entrance, or at least that's what she thought she would do. Before she could completely walk outside, a pair of dark hands had grabbed hold of her ankles and were pulling her back into the fray.

"...!" She tried to kick herself free, but it was to no avail. Her skin was nigh impenetrable and she was indeed much stronger than an average person, but the shadows constricting her had a supernatural strength to them.

"Tanso-san!" Nishinoya called out as he ran to help her, but his path was blocked by more of the shadow hounds. They surrounded him, even as he tried to punch his way through with his drill-arms.

They were both extremely close-range specialists, with no way to deal with Misao's shadow beasts effectively. And even if they somehow managed to escape the building, the sun-powered Kaito awaited for them outside. It was a cruel matchup determined by pure chance, but the pair would not give up yet.

"Take this!" Nishinoya raised both of his arms, and the drills on his hands suddenly grew much larger in size.

_DRILL HAMMER! _

He furiously buried both of his drills in the ground, completely destroying the tiled floor and sending a powerful shockwave through the ground. The violently rotating drills shot out debris in all directions, which disrupted the location enough for the shadow creatures to become unstable and momentarily lose cohesion. In turn, Rani was finally able to escape the powerful grip holding her ankles.

The young girl tackled the door open and stepped out into the sunlight, ready to face the guardian outside.

"Out of my way!" Rani smirked, confident in her ability to get past him. She really had no plan whatsoever, but that didn't matter.

"Hmph." Kaito's eyes narrowed as he dashed forward to intercept the fleeing target. He saw that one of her arms was occupied with holding the spherical Flag, which in his mind gave him an even greater advantage. Like an offensive linemen, he merely tried to stop her advance by holding her by the shoulders; turning the encounter into a pure contest of strength.

Rani gritted her teeth, as he pushed forward. Kaito however, did not budge an inch. The sun wasn't even at its highest point yet, but it was still enough to push his power over normal bounds.

"Give up." Kaito said quietly, "Your struggle is futile."

"Like hell it is…!" Rani continued pushing,

As Kaito continued to hold the tall girl in place, Misao finally reappeared from behind the building. She cast yet another shadow on the ground, using the light from the sun instead of her flashlights. The shadow became a mighty bull, but being exposed to so much ambient light meant that it only had a limited time to act. It immediately rushed toward Rani, pointing its sharp horns at her.

Rani wanted to turn around, but any distraction could mean the Flag would be swiped away by Kaito. The horns would likely not pierce her skin, but the force of the impact could still hurt her internally.

"I won't let you!" Another voice called out, and it was Nishinoya. He dashed as fast as he could to intercept the Bull's charge, and tried to stop it the only way he knew. By punching it, hard.

"What!?" Misao was visibly distraught, watching on as the bronze-skinned boy's drill collided against the bull's horned head. They couldn't possibly lose, there was no way. On paper, there was no way they could counter their abilities.

However, Nishinoya broke through Misao's shadow like it was nothing. And without wasting any time, the dark haired girl sent out another wave of more than a dozen different creatures after the now visibly exhausted young man.

"OOOOOH!" Nishinoya tightened his whole body and sent out punch after punch in a relentless barrage, each of them landing fatal on the smaller shadows, "I'M NOT DONE YET!".

The barrage of drills obliterated the beasts, and finally Misao's eyes widened slightly.

Kaito, however, scoffed.

"You're hard headed, I'll give you that. However, the fight ends now." Finally, rather than stand and merely hold Rani, the tall teenager finally started pushing back -and down- in the opposite direction.

"Ghh!" Rani yelped as she was suddenly forced down with incredible force, her hardened feet carving a hole into the asphalt. However, Kaito's words had finally helped her realize what her strongest weapon in such a situation could be.

"T-Then…!" She suddenly bent her knees, making Kaito's hands slip over her shoulders. "How about _this_!"

She sprung back up, nailing the falling Kaito right on the nose with her hardened forehead. The impact, which combined the force of the young man pushing downward and the young girl jumping up, was strong enough to break the green-haired boy's nose.

"...!" Kaito recoiled back, holding bleeding nose with his hand. He suddenly felt very dizzy, making it hard for him to stay standing. In the end, Rani was truly hard headed.

With her path now clear, Rani sped past the kneeling Kaito and onward toward her team's base.

* * *

**[Fourth Battle] **

Artemis had not delayed in getting the second-to-last bout of the day started. With Kaito's broken nose being easily fixed by Yotaro-sensei, it took but a minute to get everything set up; courtesy of the Simulation Complex's advanced systems in robotics that could get everything in place in a matter of moments; truly a testament to the investment that Kirisaki Academy had made to stay at the top of the line as far as technology was concerned.

The setting for the match was different from all the previous ones, as it took place in a large park area surrounded by the city. It was an oddly beautiful place, with green grass and many trees…

"However…" Okimi lamented, looking back over her shoulder to see her squirming partner.

Okita Chieki stood behind a tree, her black hair draped across her face. The petite girl's scarlet eyes scanned the area from behind those nerdy glasses of hers, and her petite body was startled by the slightest sign of movement.

"I don't know what to do… with this girl, I mean…" Okimi muttered, holding her chin between her thumb and index finger.

She paced around back and forth, thinking about how to proceed. She wore a dark-red bodysuit that bared her arms, shoulders and a portion of her back. The girl's costume had golden accents throughout it, mainly in the golden utility belt and in the legs. She also wore a pair of shin-high black boots, as well as a gold-tinted protective visor around her eyes. Her curly black hair was kept in a short bun, held together by a dark red band.

There was still a couple of minutes until the actual start of the match, but time was running low. She wouldn't be able to do much if she couldn't get Chieki going. Finally choosing the direct approach, the dark-skinned girl walked over to her shorter teammate.

"Hey, Chieki-chan…" She greeted amicably, "Is everything alright?"

The pale-skinned girl trembled slightly, slowly turning her head away from Okimi's amber eyes. Contrary to her extremely skittish personality, Chieki wore a rather impressive _costume._ Using a plain black leotard as a base, the girl had formed an armor of her own crystalized blood around her body. It covered the lower side of her torso, as well has her shoulders and the area around her neck. It also formed a pair of thigh-high boots around her legs, everything made from her own Quirk.

The girl parted her lips slightly.

"I'm… fine…" She whispered, holding onto the tree she was hiding behind.

Okimi sighed, holding her forehead with her hand.

"Look," She began, "I know it's hard... but we're in this together, y'know? We have to do our best."

Chieki continued to look off to the side, but the dark haired girl eventually responded with a slight nod of acknowledgment. Her thin legs continued to shake, but it appeared that she was at least willing to give it a try.

"Good, I'm sure we'll do just fine!" Okimi grinned, trying to give the smaller girl some amount of reassurance. It was only for the slightest moment, but she could swear she saw Chieki smiling slightly. It was some progress, and she would most definitely take it.

A few short moments passed, and the buzzer finally rang. It echoed through the park, loud enough to startle some birds away from the trees and back into the morning's blue skies. Seeing this, Okimi made note of an important piece of information.

"We're up against Hajiro-kun. Keep an eye on the sky, got it?" She said, starting to walk toward the center of the park.

"Y-yes!" Chieki replied, immediately turning her sight upward as she followed.

"I don't know what that Tsukijo-san is truly capable of, so also be wary of her." Okimi continued.

"...Yes." The girl behind her responded, this time quieter.

The two girls made her way through the forested area of the Park, walking around trees and bushes. They decided to stay underneath the shadows for as long as they could, since stepping out into the open areas would make them much easier to spot to the flying Hajiro. They'd inevitably have to step out of the tres in order to make it to the playground where the Flag was located, but it'd certainly do them well to avoid an ambush.

Their walk was silent, which made Chieki somewhat more anxious than she normally would be. True, it allowed her to hear their surroundings better, but that same fact made her be more on edge than she'd like. But she had to withstand it. Coming into Kirisaki, she had decided to become the sort of person others needed her to be. So she had to keep it together, if only for Chieki's sake.

"Uhm…" Unexpectedly, Chieki's voice broke the silence, "Kayo-san… why are you whistling?"

Okimi raised an eyebrow, "I'm not-"

And then she heard it. A whistling sound, the sound of an object cutting through the air. She turned toward the source of the mysterious noise, and there she saw him. A dark spot on the sky, Koge Hajiro diving down in their direction at blazing fast speeds.

"Chieki-chan, get behind that tree!" Okimi shouted as she ran to the center of a small clear. She buried her hand inside one of the compartments in her utility belt, drawing a pair of thin black wristbands that she quickly slipped through her hands.

"...!" Hajiro twisted in the air as he neared the dark-skinned girl, aiming a dropkick at her.

Okimi, however, brushed the wristbands together in a single striking motion. They had been specially designed to produce a spark powerful enough to ignite her skin, producing a powerful combustion erupting from her hands and all the way up to her shoulders as she did.

"RAGH!" Okimi roared as she jumped up to meet Hajiro, who hurriedly tried to change directions as he saw that he was now the one in danger. He produced an additional pair of wings, which gave him the torque necessary to just barely avoid a nasty burn from the girl's hands.

The tall boy landed poorly, rolling on the floor several times before coming to a halt. However, he appeared to be mostly alright. Using an arm to support his weight, he got up to a crouching position and scanned the area. Hajiro wore a black hooded cloak that mostly obscured his figure, with the only visible features from underneath it being a pair of spiked white boots (made to faintly resemble talons) and a metallic face-mask made to resemble an owl's beak.

His piercing orange eyes stared straight at Okimi, who couldn't feel the slightest ounce of animosity coming from them. Hajiro was simply playing his part, same as her.

"How's it going, Hajiro-kun? Way to make an entrance!" Okimi smirked smugly. She clenched her fists, causing the flames in her arms to burn even wilder.

Hajiro smiled earnestly, but didn't reply. It became clear that he meant to stall them for as long as possible while his teammate retrieved the Flag uninterrupted. A smart decision, given the tall boy's unmatched mobility.

"Alright then, let's get this over with quickly then…" She dashed forward, just as Hajiro himself took off in her direction with his powerful wings. He rolled in the air, quickly building up an incredible amount of speed; and once again, aimed a flying kick at Okimi.

The young woman stood still and strong, crossing both of her arms in front of her. She once again increased the intensity of her flames, practically building up a wall of fire in front of her body. The boy, however, unexpectedly let himself drop to the ground and slid right past the wall across the grass.

"What!?" Okimi was surprised by the boy's agility, and couldn't react on time as her feet were swept from underneath her by one of his long and powerful wings just as he passed by her.

He contorted his body and twisted himself back to a crouching position several yards away from Okimi, scanning the area for her teammate. His sensitive owl-like eyes spotted the girl peeking from behind a large tree, and sent a chill down her spine as they focused on her. Chieki hid her face once again, prompting Hajiro to turn his attention back to Okimi.

"You're… good." The girl said as she got back up to her feet, a grin still struck wide across her face. She then focused her flames back on the palm of her hands, this time in a more controllable amount.

Hajiro darted forward once again, taking flight in Okimi's direction. The girl, in turn, dashed forward to intercept him and attempted to strike with her flaming hand. The attack was blocked by Hajiro's own arm, which came from underneath the cloak and was revealed to be covered with small armored plates. The young woman's offensive didn't end there, as she punched Hajiro right in the chest with her other hand. The flames on her hand burst brighter, sending him flying backwards with a small explosion.

Far from defeated, the young man pushed himself back forward with his wings and aimed a kick at Okimi's head; which was only narrowly dodged. She once again increased the intensity of the flames, making the area around her hot enough to visibly shock Hajiro and cause him to take a step away from her and back up into the air.

Evenly matched, the two teenagers came to a stalemate; exactly what Hajiro wanted.

Okimi gritted her teeth, her flames growing wild for a mere instant. There was no more time to lose.

"Chieki-chan!" She called out to her teammate, "You have to go get the Flag, I'll keep him busy!"

The pale-skinned girl peeked back around the tree, her lips quivering as she did. She was crumbling under the pressure, but she had to act fast in order to give their team a chance.

"Hurry up!" Okimi continued, finally getting Chieki to move. Although hesitant, the girl started running in the direction heading toward the center of the Park.

Hajiro quickly reacted to this and tried to chase her down, but found his leg in the flaming grip of Okimi's hands as soon as he turned his eyes away from her. The girl slammed him against the ground in a short explosion of fire, scorching part of the ground as she did.

"Ugh!" Hajiro yelped, struggling to get up. He opened his eyes to Okimi standing before him, a challenging look on her amber eyes.

The only thing she could do was have faith in Chieki and keep Hajiro busy.

Meanwhile; the black-haired girl ran to her destination. No longer having to worry about being spotted, she covered the distance between the clearing in the woods to the center of the park in a short amount of time. As she walked out of the forested area, she was what appeared to be a large playground. Seesaws, swings, slides, a merry-go-round, a jungle gym, a sandbox and even a large playhouse… It was all rather elaborate for a fake city, but there it was.

"T-The Flag…" Chieki muttered, "It's somewhere around this place... "

The short girl began her nervous walk around the colorful location. It was bizarre, or so she thought, for this sort of place to be used in a combat training activity. It felt both unnerving and familiar at the same time.

She looked around in all directions, clasping her hands close to her chest. She knew what the Flag was supposed to look like, and was sure that it would stand out in a place like the playground. She quickly checked underneath the swings, inside the sandbox, next to the merry-go-round… and nothing. Besides those places, the only other structure that could conceal an object the size of the Flag would be the Playhouse.

As she turned to face the wooden structure, she finally heard a noise. It was a feminine voice, elegant… but patronizing.

"Were you perhaps looking for this?" The voice called out from above. It startled Chieki, but she turned to face it. Standing atop the playhouse was a rather tall girl with platinum gray hair falling in ringlets that framed her face. She had an elegant white-and-black dress, but most importantly, she held the Flag in the palm of her hand.

Chieki gulped down nervously. The female had an intimidating presence, and her maroon eyes looked at her with what could only be described as a _dirty _look. This young woman wanted to hurt her, of that much she was sure…

"Not going to say anything? Oh, well…" She jumped down from the playhouse and landed a few feet away from the nervous girl.

She smiled at her endearingly, "So, aren't you going to take it?"

Chieki looked back and forth between her and the Flag. Tentatively, Chieki reached out for it. Perhaps she could take advantage of the young woman's cockiness and quickly swipe it away.

Suddenly, however, a wall of pure black enveloped her vision. It was like a solid cloud of black smoke had suddenly appeared between her and the other girl. She tried to pull her hand away, but it was as if the blob of darkness wanted to suck her in… it was effectively pulling her body inside of it.

Panicking, Chieki kicked the ground and just barely managed to free her arm from the trap. As she fell on her behind, she could hear the girl laughing from behind the darkness. The dark cloud parted in half, and revealed the young woman with an even _dirtier _smile than before.

_Student: Tsukijo Charlotte_

_Quirk: Miasma_

_She can create a cloud of darkness that has an amount of gravitational pull, you do not want to get stuck inside it! _

The black blob of darkness swirled around her feet, just as she inched closer to the immovile girl.

"My… almost got you there, didn't I?" She smirked, "I hope you don't think ill of me… this is part of the exercise, after all."

The blob rose up and was launched forward in Chieki's direction, with the girl only barely managing to roll to the side in order to avoid it. It wasn't fast, but it was rather massive and she was standing very close to it. She got up and ran around Tsukijo, dashing at her through the opening behind her body. Chieki would still be reluctant to hit one of her classmates, if it wasn't for a fight-or-flight response driving her actions.

An amount of blood seeped through the skin of her hand and formed a crystallized gauntlet around her fist, which she used to aim a punch straight at the taller girl's back. It was blocked, however, by the faintest cloud of darkness surging up from her feet.

"Amusing," The platinum-haired girl said, "But you won't hit me like that."

Chieki did the same with her other fist, but it was once again blocked. Every time she retreated to strike again the result would be the same, she just couldn't get past Tsukijo's barrier. The dark blob absorbed the force of her strikes, and tried to pull her in whenever she got too close. The situation was looking hopeless, and a case could be made that the smug girl could have ended the fight at any point she wanted.

All of the sudden, Chieki's face wasn't that of panic. Tsukijo could see it from her perspective, she was almost starting to get… frustrated? It only lasted for a moment, but for that split second the girl's demeanor had changed almost completely. She saw her muttering something, but couldn't quite make out what it was.

"What, giving up already? But I wanted to play with you a little longer!" She mocked, amassing all of her Miasma into a single cloud.

"Well, about time I got going. That Hajiro is taking way too long, should have expected that I'd end up taking care of everything myself." As she spoke, the cloud raised high into the air and began plunging down on top of Chieki.

"Until next time, Okita-sa…!?"

It happened in an instant. Just as the cloud of black fell on its target; a blur of red. Tsukijo felt herself falling to her knees, her sight blurring. Something had struck her stomach, _hard. _

The last thing she saw before passing out was Chieki's figure, taking the spherical Flag from her hands.

And then, those scarlet red eyes looking into her own as she drifted off to sleep.

* * *

**Control Room-**

The class cheered for Okimi and Chieki, who had pulled off an unexpected victory after a rocky start. The flame-controlling girl was probably enjoying it a bit more than she should, while her shy teammate had been quite literally driven into a corner by everyone's enthusiasm.

Sitting far away from the commotion, however, was the lone white-haired boy. He went over his gear one last time, making sure his boots were on tight and that there wasn't anything missing from the costume that he had hidden underneath a plain white dress shirt. By his count, there were only four students -and therefore one round- left.

Truth to be told, he didn't want to do it. This was the exact sort of thing he was wary about, one of the things that stressed him the most. He believed it didn't show through his expressionless facade, that everything would be fine as long as he didn't complain and just went through with it as fast as possible. Unbeknownst to him, however, people were already starting to take notice of his attitude.

"Ah, Fubuki-san!" A deeper voice called out from beside him, "Getting everything ready, I see."

Shirou turned to his left, though he had already recognized who it was by their tone alone.

"Tsuta-san, is something the matter?" He asked, looking up to the tall young man.

Tsuta Sousou was an impressive-looking person, standing taller than anyone else in the class and having a body as well-trained as anybody. He wore a costume that didn't leave much to the imagination, as it was only vines that partly covered his torso; allowing his olive skin to show through. His piercing orange eyes and wavy black hair fit well in his mature-looking face, and he had a charming smile that made everyone feel at ease.

Unlike himself, Shirou thought Sousou had a very heroic look about him.

"Please, call me Sousou… is it alright if I call you Shirou?" He sat down next to him, waiting for no invitation. In reality, Shirou wasn't much smaller than Sousou. However, there was something about the young man that made him _feel _small. That was the sort of presence the young man had, and the white-haired boy didn't know if it was a good or a bad thing.

"...if you want." Shirou replied.

"Then, Shirou." Sousou continued, "What have you thought of all the battles so far? You've been watching them, haven't you?" The young man got comfortable, leaning back on the seat next to Shirou's.

Shirou nodded slightly, "I dozed off for a little, but I've watched most of them."

"Everyone's strong." He followed up, quietly.

Sousou grinned, "Aren't they!? Man, I knew this place was gonna be good…"

The white-haired boy didn't reply. He failed to understand what Sousou meant by _good_. It was certainly convenient that every single student in the class had their own unique strengths and abilities, but he was unable to gauge exactly why that would be a good or a bad thing for anyone.

"And how are you liking our classmates?" Sousou asked casually.

Shirou gave it some thought. There wasn't really anyone he _disliked_, however, he could think of a couple of people he could feel uncomfortable around. All in all, everyone seemed to be decent people in his eyes… at least as of their third day together.

Shirou shrugged, "They're alright." He said plainly.

The dark-haired teenager laughed, "_Alright, _you say! Well, that's a way to put it."

There was a long silence after that, with only the background chatter to distract them from it. It didn't take long for Sousou to continue speaking, however.

"Say, Shirou, remember the wall we made together? Back during the Exam."

Shirou nodded. Back during the Entrance Exam, they had worked together to build a massive tunnel to help everyone get to the Tower safely. If it wasn't for the two of them, the entire group would have been overrun from all directions and the exam would have very likely not been cleared. And for an exam that was not meant to be cleared in the first place, it had clearly not been designed to account for people capable of such massive raw power.

Sousou smiled longingly, "I didn't say anything back then, but… that was the first time anyone has been able to match me... No, I'm pretty sure your side of the wall was taller by a few meters."

Shirou leaned slightly away from Sousou, looking at him with a puzzled expression. _A few meters, _he said. Amidst all that commotion, he had the time to worry about such an insignificant difference?

Sousou clenched his fist, "I want to be strong, Shirou. Strong enough to become a True Hero."

"Stronger than everyone else."

Artemis' voice was heard in the background, telling the students to quiet down as the teams for the final match were about to be revealed. The names spun on the large screen, dancing around each other for several seconds. And then…

_[Fifth Round]_

_Fubuki Shirou & Damasu Kakeru_

_Vs._

_Tsuta Sousou & Kagayaki Hikari_

Shirou's eyes widened, and the taller teenager stood up. They didn't look at each other, but he could tell Sousou was smirking.

"It must be Fate…" He muttered as he walked away, going off to find his teammate and leaving the white-haired teenager alone with his thoughts.

He could already see Kakeru leering at him from the corner of his eye, but that didn't matter yet.

Just… what had he gotten himself into?

* * *

_Next Time: Chapter 10 - Pride_

* * *

**A big one is coming y'all. **

**Not only is it the **_**10th **_**chapter in this story (which is a really big milestone for me), but, well… let's just say it's going to be big. **

**Once again, like always, I want to thank everyone who is following, reviewing and all-around supporting this story. You guys are the best for sticking around for this long, even though I haven't been the best and handling things. **

**Anyhow, I like how this one came out… I'm satisfied, all around. **

**I leave you now with something to ponder: "Everything happens for a reason."**


	10. 10 - Pride

**Whew, so here we are. The tenth entry in this here little story of mine. It actually feels kinda crazy. **

**I want to personally thank everyone who has been keeping up with the story. **

**Really, I never would have gotten this far if it weren't for everyone's support and comments. **

* * *

**Chapter 10 - Pride**

**Fubuki Household (5 Years Ago) - **

There were stories told in certain parts of the city of Yokohama. They weren't common knowledge or even an urban legend, but indeed, certain stories were passed down.

They talked about how one day, many years ago, a very rich man had arrived to the city. He didn't speak their language, didn't dress like them, and most certainly didn't look like them. Those who knew him said he came from somewhere in the vast Russia, but nobody seemed to agree on how or where the man had acquired such great wealth and power. Some people claimed he was a business magnate, escaping with the last of his riches before the collapse of his industry. Others claimed he was actually a criminal, the mob boss of some mafia or other. And yet some more thought him to be a legendary visionary, perhaps even a prophet of some sort.

Whatever the man may have been or have done in his previous life, it all ended when his ship landed in the island nation of Japan. The stories tell that he was a big man, large as a bear and with hair white as the winter snow. They say he was charismatic, a truly likeable character who was well received even in a country notorious for the shunning of foreigners. The man used his wealth to buy great expanses of land, upon which he built a large manor made in the local style.

Before long, the foreign man had even married the daughter of a very old and influential family from the northern reaches of the country. They had a wonderful wedding in the traditional Japanese style and the man even let go of his old family name in favour of his wife's.

From that day on, he was known as Fubuki.

Perhaps it was premeditated, perhaps it was completely accidental. Perhaps it was Fate itself. Either way, there was one hidden truth to their union. In a world where the majority of the population have a Quirk, it is not far-fetched to assume that two or more people could have the same (or a very similar) Quirk in different parts of the world.

Regardless, this man and woman were truly one and the same in both heart and soul. They shared the exact same Quirk; The ability to control the powers of ice and cold.

From their union, several children were born. All of them with a different variation of this power.

The eldest of them was the man who was known as Fubuki Hyoga; Terminus, the No.1 Hero in the era before All Might. The man who today is perhaps better known as the Founder and Principal of Kirisaki Academy. This person, whose son would eventually father a child of his own, is the current Head of the Fubuki Family.

And as for his grandson…

"Wrong."

The man's voice echoed in the training hall. It was a traditionally built room, with paper walls and wooden floors. It was lit only by the afternoon sun, and the open sliding doors let in the soft breeze of autumn from the woods outside. There was a small spring running by the side of the large building, which flowed into a pond where several Koi fish merrily swam away.

He leant against a wooden pillar on the far end of the hall, crossing his arms across his chest. 5 years ago his beard was slightly shorter, but the rest of his appearance had remained unchanged. The imposing man wore a traditional training gi, colored white with a black belt.

In the center of the room, a 10 year old boy panted heavily.

His short white hair dripped sweat down to his pale face, and his heavy training gi made a brushing sound as he went through the motions of his exercise regime. He punched and kicked, turned and stepped while trying to maintain perfect form. His movement was elegant, more like a figure skater than a martial artist. Flexible joints, springy muscles, and graceful coordination.

At just 10 years old, his body had already started to be moulded into an idealized state.

However...

"Ha!"

He cried out as he punched the air in front of him, his bare feet making a stomping noise on the wooden floor. He maintained that position, with his fist clenched and his arm stretched out as the old man looked on.

Fubuki Hyoga shook his head, "...wrong."

Shirou's face remained expressionless despite his heavy breathing, even as his grandfather walked over to his side.

"Your posture is weak." The man said as he lightly kicked the young man's back leg, easily sending him falling down face-down to the floor with a loud thud. "You focus too much on your arm, what have I told you about that?"

The boy collected himself and pushed his body up with his arms, "...You strike with your whole body." He deadpanned with his soft voice, standing up. "Not just your fist..."

The old man nodded, "Then?"

Shirou turned to the side, looking away from his grandfather. Although his face remained calm, his eyes could not hide his inner turmoil. The boy had no interest in his training. He was tired of it, mentally if not physically. Every day it was worse; he wasn't even allowed to go to school with all the other children. Instead, his education depended on a multitude of expensive tutors that his grandfather would hire for him. History, Geography. Science, Mathematics, Literature… Even Music and Fine Arts. His life so far had been a prison built of books, training dummies and fake people. It was excruciating.

Noticing his silence, Fubuki Hyoga continued.

"Unlike me, Villains will show you no mercy if you are unprepared." He said, looking down on his grandson.

"...I don't care." The boy muttered, still looking off to the side.

The old man raised an eyebrow, "What was that?"

"I don't care. I don't want to do this anymore." Shirou faced forward, staring at his grandfather right in the eye while clenching his fists. That was the first time in his life that he had dared to talk back to him.

"Hmph." Fubuki Hyoga scoffed, and a cold aura suddenly appeared surrounding his body.

He frowned, and the wooden floor froze around his feet. His grandson was pushed back by the invisible force of coldness, struggling to remain on his feet. The light inside the building suddenly appeared dimmer, as if the light of the sun itself had shied away from the scene.

Shirou yelped as he shielded his face with his arms, forced to take several steps away from his grandfather. He was a child of the cold himself, but it still felt like his skin would freeze over in an instant before the towering man's might.

It was a terrifying power; the ability to freeze everything and everyone just by _existing_ within the same overall space as them_. _Fubuki Hyoga was a retired old man now, but the young Shirou knew very well that he could still be one of the strongest Pro Heroes if he so wished.

"Your Father was a failure." The man's deep voice broke the silence, "I will not allow you to become the same."

Shirou's face contorted in displeasure at the mention of the man. He stomped his foot on the floor, and a cascade of ice erupted from the ground in Hyoga's direction. The old man merely smirked in amusement, raising an eyebrow.

Another wave of cold was shot in Shirou's direction, freezing _over_ his ice and stopping it in its tracks. The freezing wave continued to travel, hitting Shirou and sending him flying against the wall. His body hit the wood hard enough to smash a hole into it, and he then fell limp to the floor.

Almost passing out, Shirou watched as his grandfather walked over and crouched beside him. There was no anger or contempt in the old man's eyes… instead, there was longing.

"...You must become a Hero, child." He said softly, "_A True Hero._"

He had heard those exact same words many times before, he was sick of them. They didn't mean anything to him, and how could they? He was taught that Heroes exist to save people, to make them happy. However, Heroes had brought nothing but pain to his life. They drove his friends and loved ones away from him, and…

"Why…? Why me…!?" Shirou asked from behind gritted teeth, holding back tears.

"Because that is _our _responsibility." Hyoga said, "The Symbol of Peace won't last forever. And when it falls… dark times will come."

It was all gibberish to him back then, heavy words with no real meaning.

"Only _we_ can protect this world, Shirou."

* * *

**Simulation Complex - **

Shirou raised his hands up to the sky, taking a deep breath in and letting his arms slowly fall back to his sides as he let the breath out. It was almost noon by now, and the sun shone down upon him as it peeked through the few puffy white clouds spread out across the blue.

The young man stood in the middle of the fake city district's main street, with fairly tall buildings surrounding him on both sides. The base for his team was what appeared to be a corner coffee shop, but he couldn't bring himself to stay inside and sit around waiting for the match to begin. There was a strange feeling in his stomach, it made him restless.

He had been taught and instructed to perform a series of breathing exercises whenever he felt anxious or had trouble focusing, which he diligently performed as his partner looked on from the shade. They hadn't spoken to each other since they left the control room, which understandably made Kakeru grow even more distraught with the whole situation.

"Huff…" The white haired boy exhaled one last time, finally opening his gray eyes. Conditions weren't optimal, but they would do. Eventually, his sight gravitated towards the side of the corner store, where a black-haired teenager lazily stared at him from a wooden bench. Kakeru's expression was a strange combination of boredom and annoyance, looking as if his morning had been ruined.

Bemused, Shirou tilted his head to the side. Interpersonal relationships were certainly not his forte, but he was now certain that Kakeru didn't like him very much. Being hated was something he was used to, but until now the reasons for it had always been made directly clear to him.

Their exchange during the Show and Tell activity came to mind, which made him realize that he had never apologized for what happened. Perhaps he had insulted Kakeru by forgetting to do so?

Determined to make amends, Shirou walked over to the corner store. As he approached, Kakeru's frown grew noticeably more intense. The white-haired boy almost wanted to walk away, but he kept going regardless.

"Damasu-san." He started, his voice as calm and monotonous as ever. "We're going to be teammates now."

Kakeru scoffed. "Yeah, no shit, you white-haired fungus."

Shirou was slightly taken aback by the black-haired teenager's comment. However, the hostility behind it seemed to have gone right over his head.

"I'm a human, I don't see how I could be categorized under the kingdom of fungi." He replied.

"That's…! I mean…! You… just forget about it... " Kakeru sighed and stood up, coming up to just about half a feet shorter than Shirou. He wore an elegant outfit resembling a Tuxedo, or at least something a very fancy casino dealer would wear. It made sense, since his Quirk revolved around playing cards.

There was another short awkward silence between the two, fittingly. Their way of bonding with other people was intrinsically different. Whereas Kakeru liked to rile people up and have fun watching their reactions, Shirou was much too oblivious to the nuances of his personal insults. The silence was broken when the white-haired boy suddenly bowed deeply, startling Kakeru.

"Uh? Now what!?" The short teenager took a couple of steps back, almost revolted by the gesture.

"I'm sorry." The white-haired boy began, "I'm still not sure what I've done to upset you, but that was never my intention."

Kakeru eyed the taller teenager strangely. This was the first time he'd ever met someone who behaved like that. It would have been so easy to roll his eyes and mock him, or just shrug the apology off by laughing about it; however, there was something so innocently awkward about Shirou that made it hard for the black-haired trickster to tell what was going on inside his head. That made Kakeru uncomfortable, as he was always pretty sure of what other people were thinking… or at least, _how _they were thinking. But at the same time, it was amusing.

"Well, it's whatever!" Kakeru said, crossing his arms and turning away from his teammate. "I've already forgotten about it, let's just focus on giving those other two the beating they deserve!"

Shirou smiled softly, standing back straight. That was _one_ weight off his chest. The two waited for the buzzer, now marginally closer to each other than they were before.

"Say, Damasu-san." Shirou began, once more.

The shorter teenager sighed, "What is it now?"

"I think your Quirk is really cool."

"Just shut u-."

_BZZZ! BZZZ! _

Interrupted by the sound of the buzzer finally going off, the black-haired teenager laughed.

"Hahahaha!" He grinned, "Finally, it was about damn time!"

To his side, Shirou felt the odd pressure in his gut suddenly grow stronger. He gulped down hard, even though his mouth felt dry. He'd heard of that feeling before, but this was the first time he'd experienced it for real. He was nervous. Sousou's words before the match had unearthed some unpleasant memories inside the slender young man.

However, he also remembered Souji's words from the other day. Usually, Shirou wouldn't bother fighting. He'd forfeit the match or find an excuse to not participate. But he had made up his mind after talking with the blue-haired boy.

_He was right here, right now. _

Shirou took one last deep breath in, closing his eyes in meditation.

"Oi, what the hell are you waiting for!? Get moving!" Kakeru beckoned from several yards ahead, starting to get impatient.

The white-haired boy calmly exhaled through his mouth. Condensed cold air exited his lungs, slowly rising up through the air. His narrow gray eyes displayed a renewed resolve, and he walked forward without uttering another word.

The part of the simulation complex where their match took place was a more densely packed city area when compared to the previous matches. Not as urban as the center and downtown areas of the fake city, but well on its way to reaching that point. All of the buildings surrounding the main street were at least 4 or 5 stories high, and they appeared to range from businesses to apartment complexes. The buildings were also more colorful that the primarily gray downtown area, and there were bright billboards and signs surrounding them at every block. The two teenagers walked quietly, alert, but not precisely expecting any trouble at this stage of the match. The full capabilities of one of their opponents were still unknown, but they were very aware of the threat that Sousou could impose.

As they approached an intersection, they walked away from the middle of the street and up to the sidewalk on their right. They bent their knees slightly and hugged the wall as they neared the corner. Peeking their heads around it, they found the place where the Flag would be found.

"That's… big." Kakeru whispered as he crouched down, giving Shirou the room to take a good look at the area.

It was a huge building, a large shopping mall by the looks of it. It was a very modern-looking structure spanning a vast area, which by Shirou's guesstimation must have been around 4 full city blocks. At the least, it had to be the second largest single structure in the entire Simulation Complex.

"Thoughts?" Kakeru asked, looking up to Shirou.

The pale teenager nodded, "Let's try to get in through the roof."

Kakeru chuckled, "I like it… we avoid being seen and can get the drop on them if we spot them."

The pair looked from side to side, scanning the area to make sure the coast was clear. They then hurriedly sprinted towards one of the mall's outside walls, running as fast as they could without making too much noise. They kept hugging the wall, and Kakeru looked up to the top of the building; it was even taller than all the other buildings around them. The only practical way up was clear to him, so the black-haired boy wasn't surprised when Shirou crouched down and placed both hands on the floor.

"Please hold on tight…"

The ground underneath their feet quickly froze over, and a spiraling pillar of ice at least a couple meters wide rose forth from the ground. It effortlessly pushed them both up like an elevator, and stopped just a couple of inches short from the rooftop. The two teenagers got off with a small hop, turning to face the new landscape before them.

To their surprise, the rooftop appeared to be largely covered in transparent crystal panels and windowed domes to allow sunlight into the mall, which from the top also appeared to be in pristine shape and a very accurate representation of an actual shopping mall. Both of them wanted to be amazed at the lengths Krisaki Academy had gone to make the Simulation Complex as close to a real city as possible, but they had other matters to attend to.

"Do you see anything?" Shirou asked, monitoring the area himself.

Kakeru shook his head, "Nope."

He pondered for a moment.

"I guess we should split up!" The black-haired teen said emphatically, heading off in his own direction.

Shirou didn't think much of it and merely went back to his own business, looking behind him to the ice pillar he had created just a short moment ago.

"I know the training for the past month was focused on my stamina, but…" He clenched his fist, which was covered in the fingerless glove extending seamlessly from his black undersleeve. The pillar wasn't that big of a deal, but the fact that his body wasn't even one percent more tired or hurt made him feel surprised.

"This costume…" He muttered to himself, feeling it from overneath the white shirt he was using to cover it. The difference wasn't massive, but it was noticeable. Even if something at that scale didn't hamper his stamina much anymore, his limbs would have usually started feeling numb anyway.

Fubuki Hyoga wasn't lying, the costume had absorbed some of the shock for him.

Just as he started to wonder about how his grandfather would provide such a thing for him, he was brought back to reality by a very distinctive noise. He couldn't tell what it was, but it came from the opposite side of the mall's roof. He curiously followed the sound, which was akin to something being stretched and slowly snapping under its own weight. Just as he approached the edge of building, he finally saw it; It was a massive wooden branch that slowly made its way over the top of the wall, and standing on top of it was Sousou and his female teammate- both looking positively pleased with themselves until they saw him standing there, after which their faces turned sour.

The two teammates and Shirou looked at each other in silence, neither of them moving an inch or daring to react to each other. The stalemate lasted for a few moments, until the white-haired teenager's eyebrows raised ever so slightly in surprise.

"Oh." Shirou said, not moving.

"What do you mean _Oh!?_" Sousou pointed at him and yelled, "And what are you even doing up here by yourself!? It was our idea to come up here and use the height to our advantage!"

Shirou shook his head, "No… I think it's clearly us who came up with it first." He deadpanned.

"Well, that's besides the point now? Isn't it?" Sousou crossed his arms, looking down at the opposing teenager.

Before the bizarre conversation could continue, the tall teenager's teammate pulled on his arm. She was a short girl with shiny sliver hair and bright blue eyes, as well as a really youthful and spunky look about her. She wore a black bodysuit underneath a futuristic-looking white armor with neon blue lights running throughout it.

"Sousou-chan!" She yelled, shifting the olive-skinned teenager's attention back to their surroundings. He looked to his left and quickly spotted a playing card flying through the air in their direction, unnaturally curving in its trajectory towards them.

Sousou cursed and barely managed to expand the massive wooden branch further up and forward towards the building. The flying playing card expanded in size and mass and cleaved a clean cut right where the two teenagers had been standing only a split second ago. This caused the branch fall apart, sending them crashing down on the rooftop not very far from where Shirou had been standing until now.

"Hahahaha!" A crazed laughter could be heard from around one of the many windowed domes spread out through the rooftop, as Kakeru peeked his head from around it. He had a wide and mischievous smirk on his face, clearly, he had held nothing back and was perfectly willing to get a surprise attack on them while they were distracted. And just as suddenly as he had appeared, the short teenager ducked back down and went back into hiding.

"Tch." Sousou frowned, getting back up to his feet. "Hikari, go after Kakeru!"

"Righto!" The girl complied, springing back up to his feet and running in the direction that her tuxedo-wearing opponent had appeared in. She didn't hesitate in the slightest, turning her back to Shirou without giving it much thought.

The white-haired teenager hesitated, unsure of how to react against a fellow classmate, but ultimately stomped his right foot on the ground beneath it. The area around it froze over instantly, and a current of ice crystals was shot in the girl's direction. It traveled close to the ground, barely high enough to make a noticeably wave. It was, however, intercepted by a wave of an altogether different size and material. Sousou created a tall wall of branches and vines, which stopped the ice wave from traveling any further as it slammed into and froze a portion of it.

Shirou's eyes widened slightly. His head turned towards Sousou, who stared at him defiantly. Their earlier conversation back at the control room suddenly came back to the white-haired teenager, who suddenly felt overwhelmed by the intensity behind the taller boy's orange eyes.

Away from the other two, his intentions became very clear. He wanted a fight.

"You haven't forgotten what I told you, have you?" He asked, dead serious. Shirou didn't reply, but Sousou continued regardless.

"I want to become stronger. I _have _to... That's why…!" Sousou calmly clenched his fist, vines enveloping it from his elbow down. He then punched in Shirou's direction, and a large mass of plant matter exploded in his direction. That strength and speed, it was on a whole other level than what he had seen during the Entrance Exam.

"...!" Shirou shifted his foot again, this time raising up a wall of solid ice spikes in front of himself. The torrent of sharp vines and pointy branches clashed against it, stopping momentarily. It, however, kept relentlessly pushing forward until it split the ice wall in half. It was redirected enough to barely miss Shirou's body, but the slender teenager could only watch in awe as his barrier had been almost effortlessly punched through.

The two teenagers momentarily stared at each other through the crumbling wall of ice, and then a second torrent of vines came. Shot out from his other fist, it was every bit as powerful as the first one.

Shirou stomped his right foot hard on the ground, preparing for something big. But just as he felt the power welling inside of his chest… hesitation. Instead, he created a wave of ice under his feet, which he rode out of the way of Sousou's attack. Leaving a path of ice as he went, Shirou slid across the rooftop with impressive speed and agility.

"Oi, where do you think you're going!?" Sousou ran after the fleeing teenager, sprinting through the crystal section of the rooftop. He was faster than most people, but he wouldn't be able to keep up with Shirou on foot.

The tall teenager spread his hand open like a claw, and plant matter formed around it until it was many times its original size. He extended his arm forward while still moving, and the wooden claw was shot through the air while still connected to his expanded arm. It zig-zagged after the sliding Shirou, until it finally caught up with him and grabbed him by his ankle.

"Wha-?"

_Student: Tsuta Sousou_

_Quirk: Overgrowth_

_He can create plant matter both from his body and from the ground, as long as he has enough energy there is almost no limit to what he can create!_

The white-haired teen couldn't react in time as his leg was yanked from underneath him, his body was raised up in the air and flailed around like a ragdoll. He was then slammed down against the crystal portion of the roof, which cracked -but didn't break- as his body hit it with tremendous force.

"Gah!" Shirou yelped, taking most of the hit with his left side. While still on the ground, he bent down and quickly touched the wooden claw with his hand, freezing it over in an instant. He then kicked it of his leg, snapping it from the arm connecting it to Sousou and causing it to crumble down as brittle ice shards.

The length of plant matter retracted all the way back to Sousou's arm, revealing his actual hand to be intact. As he walked over, the tall teenager had a look of disappointment on his face. He frowned as he watched Shirou struggling slightly to get back up on his feet, shaking his head in disapproval.

"Why do you try to run away?" He asked plainly, "Heroes don't run away."

Shirou panted, using the back of his hand to wipe away a tinge of blood from the side of his lip. His eyes darted around from side to side, but his composure was -at least on the surface- unbroke.

"No reply, huh?" Sousou frowned, "Then, it appears I've misjudged you."

As the two prepared their next move, they were distracted by the loud sounds of fighting behind them. Sosou turned to his left, watching as Kakeru running in their direction as he drew a handful of cards from under his suit jacket and threw them behind his back. He had a mildly panicked expression on his face as he fled the armor-wearing Hikari, turning towards Shirou as he sprinted.

"Oi, Fubuki! Change of plans!" He yelled, "...We have to find the Flag!"

Shirou tilted his head in confusion. Until just a moment ago, Kakeru had been so intent on fighting the match out. His questions were answered as soon as the silver-haired girl leaped high in the air above the three boys- avoiding Kakeru's cards. Her right fist was shining in a bright blue light, something they had only briefly seen before. She grinned as she hovered in the air, seemingly having them right where she wanted.

"Crap, move out of the way!" Kakeru practically tackled Shirou to the side. The white-haired teenager watched as Hikari let down a punch over where they had been standing until just a moment ago.

The blue light from her fist expanded explosively, creating a translucent apparition of her fist. It was massive, at least ten feet in diameter. The ethereal fist clashed upon the crystal surface, shattering it into thousands of pieces. The entire area gave out, crumbling under the force of the impact and sending all four teenagers falling down into the shopping mall.

_Student: Kagayaki Hikari_

_Quirk: Solid Light_

_She can create massive light projections of her own fists, they only last about a second though!_

"This girl is dangerous!" Kakeru yelled as he fell down beside his teammate. The fall from the roof and all the way to the walkway was more than enough to severely injure them, so he moved to draw even more cards from his jacket's pockets.

"..." He was, however, beat to the idea by Shirou. The white-haired teenager spun around in the air, creating a large platform of ice underneath their feet. The platform led them down at a safe angle, much like a giant slide made out of solid ice. The two teenagers then continued sliding several feet across the mall's pristine floor; and with nothing to hold it in place, the giant ice slide that Shirou had created crumbled behind them.

They had gone from the top of the shopping mall to the bottom in mere seconds. Going from being right under the morning's sun to being surrounded by fake stores and booths.

Kakeru groaned a bit as he got up, "Nice one, we have to try one of those again… preferably going into a pool..."

The pale teenager didn't say anything back and merely watched as Sousou and Hikari slowly made their way down to ground level, both holding onto another expanding vine that the tall teenager had created. Their feet made contact with the floor, and the two teams stared each other down once more.

"Well, ain't this a good ol' standoff?" Kakeru snickered, sneakily drawing a couple of cards from his back pocket.

Hikari clasped both of her hands together and grinned, "Isn't it? Isn't it? This is so much fun!"

"Hikari, I'm afraid you'd do well to ignore anything he says." Sousou added. He sounded somewhat harsh, but his eyes appeared gentle when he looked at his teammate.

The silver-haired girl raised an eyebrow, not understanding why she'd need to consider such a thing.

Before anyone could add anything else, the still-crouching Shirou placed both hands on the floor. A wave of frost spread through the ground in the opposing team's direction, which suddenly raised up to become a solid wall of ice spikes separating them from each other and covering the entire width of the walkway. The white-haired teenager then got up and turned to the shorter boy to his side.

"The Flag, Damasu-san." He said plainly before turning around and running. The mall was a rather large place, but if the previous marches were anything to go by the flag would be located somewhere around the center; which they happened to be closest to.

Kakeru laughed hysterically as he picked up his own pace, "Right, I forgot we were pussying this one out!"

The black-haired teen threw both of the cards he was holding in the direction of the ice wall. The two projectiles expanded in size massively, flipping around to become a second layer of defense. Neither of them was expecting to hold them there forever, only to buy enough time to reach the Flag's location.

A loud thud was heard behind them, and then another one. Finally, a third impact shattered the defensive wall. It was the glowing Hikari, leaping through the hole she had just blasted into the structure with Sousou close behind her.

While still running, Shirou spun around and swung his right hand in their pursuers' direction. Once again, a layer of frost and ice spread through the ground and began to explode up into a giant wall.

"I won't let you…!" Sousou rushed past Hikari and planted his hands on the floor. Vines and plant matter descended down from his arms and burrowed into the floor, erupting several feet in front of him as a tidal wave of wood, vines and thorns. The surging plant matter enveloped Shirou's ice before it could grow large enough to become an obstacle, and gave the duo a ramp which they used to perform a running leap.

"Here I go!" Hikari beamed, still in mid-air. Her balled fist glowed with blue light, signaling her intentions to attack.

Hikaru smirked, producing three cards from underneath his sleeve. The cards were simply thrown with a quick flick of his wrist, and they each flew in a separate direction.

"Hikari Punch~" The blue-eyed teen punched the air in front of her, and from her fist appeared the massive construct of solid blue light. It surged toward Shirou and Kakeru, but one of the black-haired boy's cards got in its way. It expanded rapidly, taking the brunt of the impact. Meanwhile, the other two cards circled around it. They doubled in size, and homed in on the airborne girl. She managed to block the first one, but the second nailed her right in the stomach.

"Oof!" The girl fell flat on her behind. Kakeru could not only alter the cards' size and trajectory, but also their mass. While the card that struck her had not been much bigger than an open hand, it felt like getting kicked in the gut by a practiced martial artist.

Kakeru smirked devilishly as he continued running away, "Well... I _have _always been an advocate of true gender equality."

"You bastard…!" Sousou lunged forward, suddenly closing in the distance between him and the two other boys. A spiked fist made from vines and thorns formed around his arm, and he aimed a punch straight at Kakeru.

"That speed...!" Kakeru let himself fall on his back in an attempt to dodge it, but Sousou easily managed to predict the much shorter boy's movement and adjust accordingly.

Like a blur of white light, Shirou dashed right in between the two. With his left hand, he created a small pillar of ice spikes only just big enough to catch and hold Sousou's arm in place. And with his right, he created a small wave of ice underneath the prone Kakeru's body; which ferried him away to a safe distance and then bumped him up into a standing position. This all happened in a single motion, with both actions appearing perfectly simultaneous to the naked eye.

"Get away from here, Damasu-san." Shirou said calmly, "Please, find the Flag and take it back to our base."

Kakeru watched dumbfounded, not quite sure of what had just happened. However, he quickly shook his head.

"Say no more, my dude!" He laughed as he ran away, leaving the two other boys by themselves.

Orange eyes stared into gray ones, though Sousou couldn't be sure if Shirou was looking at him… or just looking in his direction.

"You…" The taller teenager began, "You could have blasted me away just now, I was wide open."

Shirou shook his head slightly, "Damasu-san could have been in the way."

"Is that so?"

Sousou clenched his fist, increasing the power in his wooden arm momentarily. He then easily tore his arm away from the ice holding it in place.

"I'm sorry, but I'm afraid I was quite serious just now." The white-haired teen spoke up calmly, "I can't let you pass. Damasu-san must put an end to this senseless exercise."

Sousou smirked, "Well, if you put it that way…"

The dark-haired teenager raised his enhanced fist, "Guess we'll just have to see how serious you actually are!"

Shirou jumped away from the incoming blow, but he had never been its intended target in the first place. Sousou punched the floor between them, and a massive surge of plant matter burst out in the white-haired boy's direction. Stuck in mid-air and dangerously close to the wall behind him, the white-haired teenager aimed both of his hands at the incoming wave of surging plantlife.

A powerful freezing wave exploded out of his outstretched palms, clashing against Sousou's attack. It enveloped the expanding vines and branches, slowing them down as they became covered in a layer of frost and ice. It took several seconds, but the entire mountain froze over and stopped before it could finish growing.

"Ghh…!" Shirou landed on his behind, drawing both of his arms back close to his chest. He gritted his teeth in pain, looking at his hurt limbs. A layer of frost had formed over the black sleeve covering his forearms and around his hands, and whatever part of his arms that wasn't completely numb now burned up in writhing pain. The costume had been forced to its limit by the sustained freezing wave; anything he did from now on would take its normal toll on his body.

The teenager was brought back to reality by a loud rustling noise. There was now a massive wall of frozen plants separating him from Sousou, so he couldn't see what he was doing. All of the sudden, the structure in front of him was shattered by a second wave identical to the first.

Shirou practically slapped the floor, sending a shock of pain up his arm but also creating a small wave of ice under his body that managed to get him out of the way in time. The tiny wave was short-lived however, dissipating and sending the slender boy rolling on the ground several meters away. The boy panted as he forced himself back up to his feet, and he looked at the taller teenager standing before him.

Sousou's hand went down to one of the compartments in his belt, taking out a small metallic pod. He quickly popped it open and drowned its contents, sugar, into his mouth. He tucked the spent pod back into its compartment in a healthy avoidance of littering, and turned to face Shirou.

"That wasn't bad..." Sousou said with a slight smile, "I don't think there's many people who could've gotten out of that situation."

"But…" The smile disappeared, "You still aren't doing anything!"

The olive-skinned teenager swung his arm in Shirou's direction, and a myriad of wooden spikes were shot from his skin. The startled white-haired boy barely managed to react, punching the floor with his right fist and raising a laughably small wall of ice only just big enough to cover the area of his now crouching body. It served its purpose however, as the flying thorns were stopped by it.

"Fight!" Sousou yelled, "What are you so afraid of!? Where is your pride!?"

"...Pride?" The white-haired boy muttered the words over. Pride; such a complicated emotion. Shirou had heard the word before, but he couldn't understand the feeling. After all, what could he ever take pride in?

He didn't care. He didn't want to fight. He'd hurt people before; thugs on the street, villains trying to attack his home. He had seen what he could do to others, and it scared him. Souji had inspired him to protect people, to use his power for good. So, why? Why was he being forced to hurt others?

"...If you don't fight," Sousou continued, and Shirou could hear his footsteps slowly coming his way.

"Then, how could you ever protect anyone? How could you ever call yourself a Hero!?" The tall teenager jumped over the small wall of ice, staring down at Shirou from above. A torrent of vines and branches erupted from his arms, raining down on the white-haired teenager and threatening to cover the entire area around them.

Shirou closed his eyes as the mass of plant matter enveloped him, and soon there was nothing but darkness.

* * *

_**Meanwhile…**_

Kakeru ran, clutching the metallic object under his left arm. It was uncomfortable and unwieldy, but at least he had gotten to The Flag on time. The sound of his laughter echoed through the mall's tall building, accompanied only by his hasty footsteps.

"Serves them right!" He said, "It is only fitting that I would claim victory by myself!"

He snickered devilishly, showing no signs of concern for the teammate he had left behind. He was very aware that this was but a simple training exercise with no real consequences, so the sudden halt of the sounds of fighting behind him didn't worry him in the slightest. No matter who had come out on top, the black-haired boy was too far away to be caught at this point… regardless of how insanely fast the others were or how slow he was in comparison.

Victory was just a leisurely stroll away from now, and he had even managed to take down a member of the opposing team with relative ease. Or at least, that's what he had thought until then.

"Hikari…" The short boy heard the voice coming from above him, and his eyes widened at the sight of the airborne girl, "...Punch~"

A massive fist of blue light was shot in his direction, which he barely had enough time to avoid. Kakeru threw himself to the ground, sliding away from the deafening sound of impact and landing several feet to the side. He sat back up to find that the spot where he had been running just a short moment ago had now turned into a large fist-shaped crater.

"Aw… missed~" The silver-haired girl appeared oddly content with herself despite having missed her target. She scratched the back of her head, watching calmly as the red-eyed teenager standing about a couple dozen feet away from her rose back up to his feet.

"You!" Kakeru pointed at her, anxious. "You're supposed to be out!"

Hikari tilted her head to the side, "Why? Things are just starting to get fun!"

"Forget that, how did you even get here!?" He asked while stepping back, sneakily drawing a couple of cards from his back pocket with his free hand.

"What do you mean how? This is a shopping mall, there's shortcuts everywhere!"

"...leave it to the girls to know their shopping malls." Kakeru muttered under his breath, sounding somewhat bitter.

"Did you say something~?" Hikari asked, leaning forward and cupping her ear.

Taking that as a chance, Kakeru swiftly threw the cards in her direction. The cards curved in midair and homed in straight at her, expanding into a massive size as they did. She threw a punch, swatting them both away from her. However, Kakeru didn't stop there. His right arm kept going back and forth, throwing more and more cards in the girl's direction. They all came at Hikari in multiple sizes, speeds, directions and angles.

In turn, the girl let out a barrage of punches. The massive fists of blue light overtook the entire area, negating Kakeru's torrent of small and precise attacks. Each punch, as strong as the previous one, sent out a gust of air along with it that slowly but surely pushed Kakeru back several feet.

"This girl…" He cursed, frowning in frustration. "She'll really end up killing someone if she isn't careful."

"Hoooo…" The girl exhaled, "Now_ that _was a workout!"

In a single movement, Kakeru drew an entire fan of cards into his right hand.

"Yeah, really impressive!" He said loudly, but with a hint of sarcasm. "I'm really starting to run out of options here though, do you mind if I just turn around and leave?"

"I don't mind, but you have to leave that ball here." Hikari replied with a cheeky smile.

"Aw man…" The black haired boy continued, looking from side to side. He was only a short distance away from the exit by now, only a short distance away from victory. Her ability was too overpowering, a bad matchup for him. He wasn't sure he could defend himself if she suddenly decided to rush in and strike.

"In that case… catch!" He threw the spherical object at Hikari, who -not expecting it- scrambled to catch it. She was bewildered as to why he would do such a thing; but true to his word, the short teenager turned around and ran.

After fumbling around with it for a while, Hikari finally managed to secure the sphere between both of her hands. She looked at the fleeing Kakeru, noting how weird he was. That is, until she looked down at what she was holding.

"C-Cards!?" The sphere in her hands disintegrated into a mass of black-background playing cards, which until now had been assembled into a spherical formation. It was the work of Kakeru's Quirk, no doubt. She looked back at Kakeru, who had picked up the real Flag from under a pile of cards that he had been throwing earlier and was now well on his way out of the building.

"You idiot!" He stuck out his tongue at her, "Like hell I would just give out the Flag to someone else!"

At some point during their exchange, Kakeru had sneakily hidden the real flag while creating a fake one from a deck of black playing cards. That had been his real plan from the beginning, to create a distraction long enough for him to run away to a safe distance.

"Did you really think that I, Damasu Kakeru, would lose in such a straightforward manner!?"

The black-haired teenager reached down to the back pocket of his pants, drawing out an entire deck of cards. By now, he was already beyond the exit and starting to run out into the parking lot.

"But that's not fair!" Hikari complained, starting to chase after the boy, "You cheated!"

"Naive!" Kakeru grinned, "In this world there are only those who win and those who lose, the means have nothing to do with it!"

He turned around and tossed the deck -all 52 cards- in the entrance's direction. In a rain of white, red and black, the brick of cards separated and grew massively in size. The cards spread out to cover the entire entrance, patching it up in layer after layer of hardened, massive barriers.

Kakeru was almost out of cards by now, as well as at his limit stamina-wise, but he was confident that he had bought himself enough time to reach his base.

"Hahahaha! Serves you right!"

As he turned back to face forward, his expression turned sour.

"Does it now?" An olive-skinned teenager awaited him, crossing his arms and standing right in his path.

Kakeru slammed the brakes, almost leaving skid marks on the concrete with his shoes. He had a puzzled expression, as the young man standing before him was most definitely not _supposed _to be there. It was Sousou, back from wherever he had been until now.

"Tch." The short teenager frowned, "I won't pretend I wasn't expecting it, my luck hasn't been all that great lately."

"That makes two of us, I guess…" Sousou shrugged. There was an air of disappointment around him, clearly he hadn't found what he was looking for.

Kakeru took a couple of steps back, but then heard the pounding of Hikari's fists against his barrier. It wouldn't hold for much longer, he had to act now.

"Say, since we've got so many things in common, don't you think it'd be cool if you let me pass?" His face appeared perfectly calm, but his eyes clearly darted from side to side. The parking lot was just one big open area with nothing to use to his advantage.

Sousou chuckled, "Yeah, it'd be pretty cool but I don't think it's going to work."

"Figures."

Kakeru jumped back and swiped his right arm up, releasing three cards towards Sousou. Rather than expand, the cards built up an impressive amount of speed and became as sharp as any knife. Taken by surprise, Sousou could only manage to raise his arm up in defense. A layer of wood formed around his forearm, and the three cards buried themselves into it; one of them digging deep enough to wound the teenager's actual arm.

While Sousou reflexively went to take the card out of his arm, Kakeru began circling around him. The flag was still tightly cradled under his arm, and with the surprise factor out of the way his only objective was escaping. There was one thing he'd come up with recently but hadn't been willing to try. If there was any time to try it, now was the time. He drew one more card, and flicked it right in front of him and towards the ground.

"Hahahaha! Goodbye!" He laughed as he jumped in the direction of the flying card, which suddenly expanded; allowing the teenager to land on top of it while still in motion. Like a hover-board, Kakeru rode the massive card away from Sousou.

"Gimme a break…" The tall teenager finally managed to get the card out of his skin, its edge now covered in a small amount of blood. "I'm really not in the mood."

Sousou took a deep breath in, getting his feelings under control. He looked up to the sky… it was just around noon by now. The sun beat down straight into him, filling his body with warmth in the otherwise still chilly morning. Conditions were optimal.

He crouched down and placed both hands on the concrete surface, taking a moment to focus. Suddenly, massive vines crawled down from the skin of his forearms and burrowed into the ground. They then dug their way towards the fleeing Kakeru with insane speed, cracking the concrete while on their way. They eventually overtook him, and burst out of the ground in front of the card as a massive wall of branches, vines and thorns. The plant matter kept expanding, forming a barrier several meters tall and thick around the short boy. By all measures and standards, Sousou had created a castle of plants.

"What the… what is this power!?" Kakeru, startled, looked from side to side. There was no escape. He didn't have enough energy to lift himself off the ground enough to jump over the barrier, and didn't have enough cards left to cut his way through it. Trying to force his way through would only end up with him being entangled and immobilized.

The black-haired teenager turned his head around and watched as the wall behind him parted open, allowing Sousou into the structure.

"This is Overgrowth's true power." He said, pointing up to the sky. "The sun, its light that is, is vital to my abilities. Nutrients and sunlight; that is what a plant needs to survive, isn't it?"

Kakeru looked at the walking teenager with a serious look on his face. At the very least, that explained the sugar. And with the sun at its highest point in the sky, so were Sousou's powers. The short boy felt a chill run his back as he realized he was now stuck inside a cage with what was practically an unbeatable opponent, and there was nobody who could help him.

"That is how things stand, anyway… now;" Sousou continued, calmly. The concrete to both of his sides, his back and his front cracked open, and from it half a dozen constructs of vines and branches shaped like hands erupted up into the air. They were more than a couple dozen feet tall, and as thick as the trunk of a large tree. There was no doubt in Kakeru's mind; he could very easily be crushed and beaten into a bloody pulp by just one of them.

The six massive wooden arms swayed in the air, surrounding their creator in every direction.

"Since we've got so many things in common… don't you think it'd be cool if you gave me that Flag?" Sousou smirked menacingly, stretching his hand out to Kakeru.

The elegantly dressed teenager clutched the spherical object even closer to his chest, gritting his teeth. This guy was trying to get him to surrender and flee with his tail tucked between his legs. He wouldn't have it, not after coming this far.

"Come and take it!" Kakeru laughed, defiant to the very end.

Sousou snickered, "Well, guess I'll do just that."

The formation of wooden arms expanded even further, starting to violently home in to Kakeru's position. The boy hugged the Flag, closing his eyes and preparing for the impact. He didn't have enough cards to put on any significant defense, so he simply spread out the ones that remained throughout his body and hardened them in an attempt to create some form of protective armor hidden under his clothes.

He prepared for the worst, until a deafening sound froze everything in place. The thunderous slam sent shockwaves along the ground, cracking the parking lot's concrete in several places. Kakeru opened his eyes to find Sousou staring at something to his right in disbelief. Kakeru, thus, turned to his left.

"Wha...! That is…!"

Gargantuan, there was no other way to describe it. Taller than any of the buildings in the vicinity, it had erupted from the ground to pierce the heavens themselves. It split even the vast shopping mall in half, carving it in half like a knife through cake. It was the same as back then, during the Entrance Exam.

"A Mountain… of Ice!?"

* * *

"_You must become a Hero… A True Hero."_

"_I WILL be a Hero!" _

"_You should give it a chance, and maybe… just maybe… you might find the meaning behind it all!"_

"_I don't know what your circumstances are… but, we're right here… right now." _

"_I want to be strong, Shirou. Strong enough to become A True Hero."_

"_Only we can protect this world, Shirou." _

"_...If you don't fight, then, how could you ever protect anyone? How could you ever call yourself a Hero!?"_

The words echoed inside his head. Voices he'd heard from people dear to him, voices he'd heard from people who he'd only just met, voices that had stuck with him.

Inside the darkness there was only him and his world, a brittle reality built from thoughts and emotions he didn't understand. It was always the same way; people expected him to know what they wanted from him. And he tried, he really, really tried. He didn't want to let anyone down, he always did as he was told, but… he just couldn't comprehend it.

He told himself that he didn't want to fight. That he didn't want to hurt people.

**A lie. **

He didn't want to fight for something meaningless.

For something without purpose.

For people who didn't want him.

He was given power, and he was told to use it to protect those people… but why? What had everyone ever done for him besides leave him, betray him, and shun him? What did he owe to society that was worth more than his life? He had made up his mind to give it a try many times already, but his mind always came full circle.

_Why?_

_Why me? _

The questions that nobody had ever given him a good answer to. He was never given a choice; He was raised to do it, moulded and polished like a weapon. Even down to his very core, the terrible secret behind his creation; The forbidden union between two of the same seed, all for the sake of power and perfection. Everyone was in control of his life before it even began, except him.

Then… what was that feeling inside of his chest? What was that fire that lit up inside of him when he witnessed a powerless being's determination? He, who was given everything yet wanted nothing, had witnessed someone who was given nothing yet wanted everything. It awoke something inside his frigid heart.

Hope.

That feeling was hope.

Hope that everything had a meaning, hope that he there were things in this world worth fighting for. That he could become more than just a machine built for somebody else's purpose. That he could learn to love once again.

"I… who am I?"

Not a machine. Not somebody's tool.

"I… I am Shirou."

He wasn't his family, he didn't have to be.

He still had a long way to go, to find his meaning, to realize his hope. But finally, after so many years, he had found his starting point.

He didn't have to wait for someone else to give him a path to follow, he could make his own. With his own two hands.

Along with that realization, power surged inside of him; power that he hadn't felt in a very long time. It was overflowing, leaking out of his body and spreading out to everything around him.

The shell burst open, and the darkness was painted white.

It all came out at once, freeing him from his prison of vines and thorns. And it kept going, higher and higher. With a thunderous roar, a mountain of ice burst through the ceiling and ascended higher still, just as when he had tried to match Sousou during the Entrance Exam. The shopping mall was split in half, and it was his own doing.

Shirou took a deep breath of fresh air, standing on top of the massive ice formation. He could look down on the entire from there, and then he spotted them; Standing in the middle of the parking lot and surrounded by walls of plants were Kakeru and Sousou, who looked at him in bewilderment.

He exhaled, condensed air escaping his lungs through his mouth, and looked at Sousou straight in the eye. There wasn't much stamina left in him, but he'd give him the fight he was looking for.

Shirou kicked the mountain and jumped in their direction, riding a wave of ice that left a trail in its path. It didn't take him long to recognize what had happened so far; Kakeru had managed to flee with the Flag, but he had been driven into a corner without him to hold Sousou back.

"I'm sorry, Damasu-san…" Shirou muttered while still in midair, "I am truly the worst teammate ever."

With a face that was now a mixture of amusement and surprise, Sousou redirected the wooden arms to Shirou's incoming direction. The six massive constructs of vines and woods extended upwards into the air, where the slender teenager flew down like a comet.

"...!" Shirou abandoned his ride, instead jumping into one of the incoming arms. He acrobatically avoided its hand and ran down its length while dodging the others, which came back around to try and catch him. He jumped over a second hand, slid under a third one and simply outsped the rest. He had a clear path down, and waiting for him was Sousou.

The tall teenager produced a fist of vines from his arm, which was shot in Shirou's direction. The white-haired teenager, in turn, froze a ramp of ice underneath his feet just as he was about to reach the ground and jumped over the incoming attack. The mass of vines narrowly missed him, flying off into the distance.

Sousou's eyes widened as Shirou was suddenly right in front of him, hanging in midair for what felt like an eternity. And then…

"Hoaagh!" A roundhouse kick, landing right on Sousou's jaw. The olive-skinned teenager's neck was turned violently to the side, and his whole body was lifted off the ground and flung to the side by the strength of the impact.

"Gah!" Sousou crashed on his side and rolled across the ground several times, landing several feet away from where he had been standing until now. Shirou didn't have a much better landing, tumbling down to the ground after delivering his strike.

To their side, Kakeru cheered.

"Hahahah! How's that!? Please tell me somebody got that on camera!" He carelessly sat at the edge of the still floating card, as if he was just a spectator enjoying some kind of show.

"Damasu-san." Shirou spoke as he stood back up, causing Kakeru to stop. "Truth to be told, I'm not doing very well and I don't know how long I can keep this up. I can barely feel my arms and legs anymore, so please hurry up. Take the Flag back to our base!"

Kakeru gulped down, taken off guard by the white-haired teen's sudden intensity. He was laughing just now, but in reality he was also close to his limit. Both of them were at the border of exhaustion, while only just barely managing to land their first solid hit on Sousou.

"Alright, alright, whatever you say. Good grief, I swear you'd be completely helpless without me~" Kakeru said as his card slowly started carrying him out of the now wide-open wooden cage. Hikari was bound to be out there, somewhere, so he had that to worry about.

Shirou smiled slightly at his comment, but turned back to Sousou as he slowly got back up to his feet. The athletic teenager spat blood down into the pavement, wiping some of it off of his lip with the back of his hand. Rather than becoming angry of frustrated, the tall boy chuckled.

"Good…" He said, "I've been waiting for that."

Shirou smiled, "Yeah, me too."

The two teenagers shifted their feet, and from them two waves -one of plants and one of ice- exploded forward. The waves clashed, pushing each other up higher into the air and creating a small multi-colored mountain that separated the two of them. Only a short moment after its creation, Shirou watched as a multitude of vines pierced through his end of the wall, tearing it open and splitting in half. From the gap in the center dashed Sousou, a fist of vines ready to strike.

However, the slender teenager shifted his foot again; sending a second wave, which was narrower, faster and more precise than the first. It caught the soaring teenager by surprise, and hit him like a truck. Sousou yelled in pain as he was carried away by the avalanche of ice, sent crashing back all the way to -and through- one of the plant walls that he had built earlier.

"…" Shirou exhaled, a cloud of condensed vapor rising up from his mouth. He looked down to his feet and noticed that one of his boots was already covered in a layer of frost. Frostbite was well on its way by now. But it didn't matter, the pain made him feel more alive than ever before.

The teenager was brought back to reality by a loud noise coming from where Sousou had landed. He watched as a multitude of wooden arms like the ones from before emerged from the ground and extended up into the air, coming back down in his direction. He didn't have the time to worry about his legs; he had to move.

Shirou ran in their direction, starting with a limp but eventually going back into a full sprint. As two of the massive wooden arms approached, he bent sideways and swiped his hand up at them; the tips of his fingers lightly brushing the pavement as he ran. With a surge of cold energy, two massive ice spikes exploded upwards from the ground. They pierced the wooden arms' hands, pinning them in place high above the floor.

In the distance, Sousou grinned.

"Come, Shirou! Show me what your strength looks like!"

He yelled. The athletic teenager then crouched down to the floor, placing both of his hands on the cracked pavement. It was an incomplete version of something he had been working on for months; his strongest ability. The earth split beneath his feet and a mass of plants started to envelop his body. There were thorny vines, earthy branches and even bright flowers and grass. They fixed themselves to his limbs, surrounding him around his back and lifting him off the ground.

It was as if mother nature itself had become a golem with Sousou at its core. From its hand, a blade of thorns extended towards Shirou. That was it, the final confrontation. He would only be able to hold it together for a single strike at that point, but it didn't matter. He was coming at the white-haired teenager with everything he had.

Shirou chuckled even as his legs threatened to give out under him as he ran. He didn't have a fancy finishing move or anything like that, not even a secret ability that he could count on during times of need. He only had his ice and his cold, nothing more and nothing less. But that was plenty.

He stopped and slid down to his knees, planting both of his hands firmly on the ground. He poured every last bit of his power into them, all the way down to the very last drop of it. From each of his hands, a massive wall of ice surged up from the floor. It was twice his usual maximum amount, a gargantuan avalanche of ice and frost coming in from both left and right. They would have easily swept away any building on their path, had there been any.

"_This is it, this is everything I have left in me..." _

The semi-humanoid construct of plant matter stepped forward and the ground shook beneath its feet. It swung its blade, around a couple of times. It was long and flexible, almost like a whip.

Sousou fearlessly charged forward, facing down the incoming mountains of ice. His blade swung back, and then forward; cutting the air in half as it grew even longer.

There was a flash of white as the two forces collided, and then, nothing. The whole world became still in that instant, and the ground shook no longer. Ice shards were scattered throughout the entire area, and small crystals floated down like snowfall.

The two mountains of ice were missing their top halves, with the lower ones having lost direction and diverging parallel to each other. Whether they had been cleanly cut in half by the blade or had merely crumbled under their own weakness, it was impossible to tell. Bundled together in between them was the now shapeless mass of plant matter, crumpled together in a pile of semi-frozen vines and ruined flowers. From underneath it, a hand managed to rustle out of the pile. And soon, Sousou's head emerged from the bottom. He was panting, condensed breaths of cold air escaping his lungs.

The olive-skinned teenager crawled his way out of there, his skin turning reddish from the cold of the frozen ground. He struggled up to his feet, holding his right arm as he did. It had somehow been hurt during the whole thing, but he couldn't be sure if it was from the impact or from being buried in that pile of plants.

"Just… what happened…?" His orange eyes scouted the area; A devastated, snowy land with crumbling ice spread out through the entire place. Alas, there was no sign of the white-haired young man.

He slowly walked over to where he had last seen him, his body aching all over all the while. There were piles of ice everywhere, with one of them being right where Shirou had been kneeling just a moment ago. Sousou gulped down, not sure of what to expect. He moved towards the pile, and started moving the crumbling ice out of the way with his good left arm.

It took a bit of digging, but he finally made it all the way to the bottom.

"S-Shirou!"

The slender boy laid flat on the ground, motionless. His skin was deathly pale, and a layer of frost crawled up from beneath his shirt, up his neck and into the edges of his face. The startled teenager reflexively moved to touch the boy's shoulder, only to yelp in pain and move his hand away.

"This guy… he's colder than the ice…!?"

A thin vine with small green leaves spread out from the tip of Sousou's finger, it held on to Shirou's chest and spread throughout his torso.

A heartbeat, he could feel a heartbeat through it.

"He's sleeping… no, hibernating?"

It was a weak, slow heartbeat. However, it was consistent with what one might expect from a creature whose metabolism has slowed down to its minimal rate. Shirou was in stasis, some form of self-preservation mechanism that was integrated into his physiology. Something to keep his Quirk from taking his own life. At the very least, it left Sousou convinced that said life wasn't in danger. Exhausted, the tall teenager plopped down beside the sleeping boy.

He took a deep breath in, and then sighed.

"Still…" He began.

"That's an oddly smug smirk you got there, buddy."


	11. 11 - The Day After

**Well, I'm not dead, though college really seems to want me that way. I've been busy with exams, projects, and the like. I hope you'll forgive me for being so inconsistent with my updating, but that's just the way things are at the moment.**

**Either way, let's not delay any further. I have a little message for everyone at the bottom, but we'll get there when we get there.**

* * *

**Chapter 11 - The Day After**

**Kirisaki Academy - Principal's Office**

The conclusion to the day's scheduled training exercises -for all relevant classes- had caused quite a commotion around the school. There were a few minor injuries, all of them swiftly taken care of by the medical staff. However, that was not the motive behind the whispering voices and hushed comments. There were rumors going around; word that one student in particular had landed himself in the head nurse's intensive care unit.

Nanao gulped down nervously; her first week at the job wasn't even done yet and she had already been called back up to Fubuki Hyoga's frigid reception. She clasped her gloved hands together, trying to have them warm each other up. And while stressed, she could help but realize that her hero costume's stylistic addition of a blue scarf around her neck was proving useful for once.

To the young woman's right, the red-haired Artemis stood defiant. Chest puffed out, her hand naturally resting on the side of her hip. She exuded an air of confidence and assertiveness, making her feel even bigger than she actually was. The amazonian woman was proud and beautiful, with a strange talent for making Nanao feel insecure about her own femininity.

Before them, Fubuki Hyoga sat on his desk. A pair of reading glasses almost too small for his head rested on on his nose as his eyes went over the day's report. The mountain of a man was quiet, and the young teacher still couldn't be sure if that was a good or a bad thing. Even back on her days as a student, she could have sworn she had never seen the man smile wholeheartedly or say more than a couple of sentences at a time… save for his occasional speeches, that is.

Finally, the man's hand moved to one side of his desk. He took out a black fountain pen from a drawer and quickly signed the documents over in a multitude of locations.

"Good." He said plainly, his voice low like a growl. "That will be all, Benibara."

"...eh?" Nanao stood surprised, but Artemis moved before she could say anything. The tall woman retrieved the papers back from the principal's desk, and turned around to leave.

"Very well," She said clearly, "We shall be on our way."

"W-wait, what about Shirou-kun!?" She asked, not realizing she had raised her voice to a dangerously high volume. She had been in a shock since she had seen the conclusion of his match, even more so after watching his motionless body leave the scene in a Kirisaki-owned ambulance.

"Nanao." Artemis glared at her, "We are dismissed."

The short woman shook her head, "But isn't it weird!? For something so dangerous to happen under our supervision… it isn't normal!"

Shirou… Sousou… Everyone. They were her students now, for better or for worse. She still wasn't sure of herself, of being able to do her job properly. However, what she did know was that those kids were her responsibility now. She understood that they knew what they were getting into, and knew better than anyone in the world that being a Hero was a dangerous life. However… for something so serious to simply be swept under the rug… it was weird.

"You… have you lost your mind?" Artemis moved to grab Nanao by the wrist, but stopped all of a sudden. Confused, Nanao turned towards Fubuki Hyoga; who calmly held his hand up; signaling the red haired woman to hold back.

The man appeared as stoic as before, showing no signs of being offended or upset. But then again, who could know?

"The Kirisaki Academy Simulation Complex is a controlled environment." He began, "There are many fail-safes in place -precautions, if you may- to ensure that none of the Students are in any grave danger. Hidden safety nets, automated protective systems, even robotics... among other things. Of course, certain injuries are inevitable, but that is exactly why we invest so heavily in our medical personnel."

It wasn't the first time she'd heard of it. She had been briefed on the basic details of the facility, and she couldn't deny that such a place would have been extremely useful several years in the past. However, that still didn't answer her greatest question.

"But… what about Shirou? How is that supposed to be safe!?"

The room went silent for a moment, tension taking the place of words. Soon enough though, the white-haired man sighed.

"A reasonable concern." He stated, "However, it is not without precedent. Fubuki Shirou's condition is not serious. The boy will resume regular activities tomorrow. Furthermore, all activities shall resume as scheduled… including this weekend."

"Eh?" She was confused. The way he spoke of Shirou… it was not the way a grandfather should speak of his grandson. There was not the slightest hint of worry in his tone, not even a shred of concern. The boy looked like a corpse and was colder than the grave not even a couple of hours ago, yet the man didn't seem to care.

The man stood up from his chair, turning toward the window behind him.

"That will be all." He repeated, this time making it sound definitive.

Nanao watched his back, a look of disbelief in her violet eyes. She then felt Artemis' hand on her shoulder, only it wasn't forceful. She turned towards the taller woman, who merely shook her head slightly.

"Let's go, Nanao." She said plainly, and walked towards the elevator. Still puzzled, the brown-haired woman followed her without saying anything. A pair of metallic doors closed in front of the two teachers, and soon enough they were on their way down… leaving the old man by himself.

Fubuki Hyoga watched the sunset in the horizon, as he liked to do. Arms crossed behind his back, the man stood strong and firm. All of the sudden, his reflection on the window revealed a grin.

He slid a finger under the hem of his sleeve, feeling the edge of his jagged scar. The image of his slumbering grandson was clear inside his head.

"So… you've finally found yourself?"

_Shirou…!_

* * *

**The next morning…**

Soru Dangan yawned loudly as he made his way up Kirisaki Academy's many flights of stairs. He was already starting to hate them not even a full week into the school term, and silently wished that students were allowed to use the faculty and staff elevators. It was definitely a bit of a leg workout having to climb up and down the building at least twice a day, to the point that the brown-haired teenager wondered if it was intentional. The slim young lazily wobbled his way up the stairs anyway, his school bag lazily hanging from his shoulder as he stepped out into the first year's hallway.

It was still fairly early, so he saw many other students walking in either direction or chatting in groups by the windows. They were all first years, but he didn't immediately recognize anyone from his class. After all; there were way many more classes than just 1-A and 1-B in the Hero Course. Kirisaki Academy's courses were divided in various departments.

The Department of Heroics (Classes A and B, essentially the Hero Course)

The Department of General Education (Classes C, D, and E)

The Department of Support (Classes F, G, and H)

And finally;

The Department of Law Enforcement (Classes I, J and K). It was the current highlight of Kirisaki Academy, besides its Hero Course of course. Principal Fubuki Hyoga had essentially opened a department dedicated to preparing individuals with the goal to contribute to the safety of society as future police officers, but also gave an edge in preparation to students seeking to work in other areas of the law such as aspiring lawyers and other social workers.

Dangan thought it was dull.

Finally reaching 1-A's Classroom, the teenager slid the door open and stepped inside. His bored yellow eyes scanned the room quickly, and he noticed that a large portion of the class was already there.

As she sat near the front of the first row, his eyes inevitable drifted to the red-haired girl who had been his partner during yesterday's exercise. Arakaki Rie noticed him as well, and immediately frowned. She was still mad at him for losing their match, and boy, she would be even madder if the truth behind their loss ever came out. Dangan could only hope she'd forget about it before she learned that he had pretty much gifted the victory to Itona's team.

He made his best attempt at ignoring her and proceeded to his own seat, which was located in the middle of the third row… pretty much dead center in the classroom. Not the optimal sleeping location, but it could be worse.

He dragged his feet all the way to his desk, and put his bag on top of it. It was then when the absolute worst part about his location waved his hand at him.

"What's going on, my dude!?" The rainbow haired Konton Yasei grinned, leaning forward on the seat directly behind his own. They hadn't gotten much class time yet, but boy could he already tell he would be consistently loud.

"Nothing much, my guy…" Dangan replied half-heartedly, plopping down on his chair. At the very least the seats were much more comfortable than the ones back at his middle school.

He wasn't even done settling down, but could already feel Yasei bending even further forward behind him.

"Yo," The much taller teenager began, "Yesterday was so much fun, wasn't it!? I've never fought someone who could intercept my chaos bullets before!"

Dangan's eyes widened ever-so-slightly.

"Oh, that's right." He deadpanned, "I fought you yesterday..."

Dangan had honestly forgotten most of the match by now, but he hadn't had a workout like that in months. Perhaps that's why he felt so exhausted right now, though it was probably just Yasei.

"You did!" The teenager grinned, not even mad. "It was awesome, too! We took down that crane-thing… epic!"

"Our teammates were on that crane-thing… they almost crash down to the ground." He said matter-of-factly.

"I know, right!? Epic!"

Without even looking, Dangan could feel Yasei pumping his fist up into the air. He shuddered, bending forward to rest his head on his arms. This conversation was stressing him out at twice the normal rate. He had met reckless people in his life, but this guy was on a whole other level.

He yawned rather loudly, a diminutive tear forming underneath his eye as he shut his eyes tightly. He wiped it away with the back of his hand, making a mental note to try and fix his sleep schedule for the fifth time in the week.

"Oh, are you tired already? But the day hasn't even started yet!" Yasei pointed out from behind him, at this point leaning forward far enough for his chair to start tipping forward on its front legs. The rainbow-haired boy was practically climbing on his desk by now, which nobody around seemed to pay any mind to.

"Yeah…" Dangan sighed, not knowing why he was maintaining the conversation. "I just want the day to be over so I can go back home…"

"Ain't that a mood… We've been fooling around so much that I kinda forgot we actually have to take normal classes." Yasei finally sat himself down, which caused his seat to swing backwards. His arms waved around for a moment as he tried to keep himself from falling on his back, which he finally managed to do after a few seconds of struggling.

"Whew…" He breathed out, "But man... the fights yesterday were in-sane, weren't they?!"

Dangan quietly snored in response.

"Oi, are you listening to me!? Did you fall asleep already!?"

And indeed, the brown-haired boy's head was now completely resting on his arm. Soru Dangan was now in a place where not even Konton Yasei's loud words could reach him. It was already a pretty common and accepted sight for him to fall asleep, so no one really paid any mind.

Even the red haired Rie could only sigh in slight frustration as she turned away from them and went back to slouching on her desk. She already had her suspicions about what had transpired at the end of their match, but she wasn't sure she really cared that much. After all, she had managed to get a pretty thrilling fight out of it nonetheless.

She had always loved fighting, even as a child. She'd spend hours every single day watching clips of fights from Heroes like All Might and Endeavor, and then some more trying to imitate their flashy moves and abilities. Come the time for school, she'd find any reason to pick a fight just because she could… much to her family's dismay. Not even grown adults were spared from her fiery temperament, and you could only feel pity for those who dared test it. Even now, after watching everyone fight, she still felt an urge to pick a fight with a bunch of her new classmates.

"...there'll be plenty of time for that, though." She muttered as her head rested on her palm.

"For what, exactly?" A soothing male voice called from in front of her.

She was slightly startled, but quickly recognized the tall, olive skinned young man.

"Oh…" She said, "It's just you."

Sousou laughed nervously, scratching the back of his head as he moved to sit in the desk behind Rie.

"Well, yeah, it's just me. You didn't answer my question, though." He spoke up warmly, disguising his genuine curiosity under a layer of feigned casualness. She wouldn't have it, though.

Rie rolled her eyes, "Mind your own business."

"Oh, it's early morning and you're arguing with someone already?" Another voice spoke up. It was Okimi, who looked at the red hair with a teasing look. The dark skinned girl had just arrived to the classroom, but her lively attitude was already on full display.

"Shut up!" Rie retorted, "We're not even arguing yet."

"_Yet._" Sousou repeated from behind. As Rie turned to glare at him, he quickly looked down and pretended to be fidgeting with his pen… though doing an intentionally poor job at hiding his slight grin.

The tall girl stood up with a jolt, her chair making a very loud noise as she did.

"You better stop playing with me, both of you!" She proclaimed defiantly, though it did very little to remove the teasing expression on both Sousou and Okimi's face.

"Those are very strong words." The brown haired girl replied, "You know, for someone who lost their match."

Sousou had to do his best not to start cackling, even as Rie turned towards Okimi with a menacing aura.

"You-!" The pale skinned girl began, but was swiftly cut off by an arm belonging to another person. It was Nishinoya Ken, who was now very concerned with the amount of noise coming from behind him.

The stoutly built young man's lip quivered slightly as he spoke.

"Uhm… can you guys please keep it down? It won't be much longer until class starts." He said, getting at least Okimi to surrender immediately. The slender girl briskly walked right past the two of them and took her seat behind Sousou.

"Tch," Rie shook her head, "To think I have to deal with these ones every day from now on…"

Watching the fiery girl sit down, Nishinoya sighed in relief. He noticed several thumbs up coming his way from various places in the classroom, which made him feel a bit oddly better about himself. In particular, a very enthusiastic blonde girl -Miyuto- caught his attention from the far end of the classroom.

The girl waved her arms around and made exaggerated gestures with her hands, which the bronze skinned teenager wasn't sure he understood completely. All in all, she appeared to be praising him for defusing the situation. Starting to feel awkward, Nishinoya meekly nodded in response and went back to his seat.

The minutes came and went, with a few more students arriving to the room. The sounds of light chatter still filled the environment, but there was a slight feeling of tension despite of it. After all, some of them had fought against or alongside each other. Some winning, some losing. All in all though, it was a pretty usual morning.

Kakeru could be heard in the back of the classroom laughing at some joke he had thought to himself or at a random thing he'd noticed a classmate doing, Kirina lazily flipped through the pages of some advanced book or another, and Hibiki listlessly stared off into the void while Hikaru's eyes appeared to quietly go back and forth between the blue haired boy and the notes on his own desk. It didn't take long for most of the classroom to finish filling out, with incoming students exchanging greetings with those who were already there.

"But," Itona said, talking with the lively group between the first and second rows. "I can't help but wonder what the meaning behind yesterday's exercise was…" The short boy ran a hand through his extremely long, ivory-colored hair as he was deep in thought.

"Didn't Artemis-san say it was to measure our combat skill... or something like that?" Okimi replied, holding her chin between her index finger and her thumb. She could still faintly recall the introductory speech by the red woman.

Sousou nodded, "Correct; to evaluate our combat skills and measure our physical ability, as well as our judgement and capacity to make decisions on the fly." He stated matter-of-factly.

"So, they were trying to see how strong we are, right?" Rie added, getting serious all of the sudden. "They put us up against each other to see how good we are at fighting."

Sousou chuckled nervously, "Well, yeah, you could say that..."

It all seemed fairly simple, but Itona was clearly not convinced by their answers. His facial expression revealed some deeper thoughts, and it was noticed by the people sitting closest to him.

"What is it, Itona?" Okimi asked, "You've got something in your mind."

"Well…" The dark skinned boy began, "I just think it's strange for them to do that right out of the gate. We haven't even had proper classes yet, it just feels sudden."

"That just seems to be the way they do things around here." Sousou quickly commented, "With competition such as U.A. and Shiketsu… I think it probably makes sense that Kirisaki feels pressured to get great results out of their students."

"In other words... Kirisaki itself is also aiming to be the best, right?" Okimi continued.

"Yeah…" The dark haired teenager smirked, "And I've got no complaints about that."

Itona gulped down. He knew Kirisaki was a good school, but he never imagined this turn of events. The school year was just getting started, the first of three, and pressure was already way higher than he expected it to be. He didn't feel worried about not being able to keep up, but the intensity of everything and everyone around him was definitely something he didn't foresee.

Rie pumped her fist, "Same here, bring it on!"

Multiple people shushed her from across the room, though the red haired young woman didn't care. She proudly puffed out her chest and looked at them smugly, very clearly challenging them to _do _something about it.

The gray-haired Hikaru, one of the shushers, merely shook his head and went back to his thoughts.

"R-Regardless…" Itona stuttered, getting everyone's attention back to himself. "Don't you think we almost took it too far?"

He remembered the whole scene that had happened during his and Rie's match, specifically the fight atop the crane; the risk of falling from it was real, and they did end up getting blown up in the end. But what everyone else went back to was different, as it concerned the conclusion of Sousou's match. There was a silence, until one of the girls spoke up.

"We really didn't hear anything else, did we?" Okimi began, "About Fubuki-san, I mean. He hasn't gotten here yet, and he's usually one of the first to arrive."

The last time anyone saw him, he was being carried away by the medical staff. They'd merely been told that he'd be fine, but the lack of information was concerning. The only one of them who had seen him up close was, of course, the dark haired Sousou. Alas, he appeared to keep his thoughts to himself, his expression only shifting slightly at the mention of Shirou's last name.

Rie scoffed, "He's probably just oversleeping, it didn't look like that big of a deal to me."

Sousou shrugged at her comment, once again not intent on adding anything.

Almost as if right on cue, the large door to the classroom slid open. Just about every single head in the classroom turned towards it, as if they were all expecting the same thing. Lo and behold, in walked the figure of a white-haired young man. His uniform was disheveled and his tie was loose, which very clearly revealed a neck that was covered in bandages. It was safe to assume that his entire body -or at least his torso- was covered in such a manner, as the white wraps were also present around his hands. Contrary to his unusual appearance, the teenager lazily held his brown school bag and carried his usual neutral expression.

Shirou stopped for a few seconds before walking any further, blinking twice to make sure he wasn't hallucinating everybody staring at him.

"...good morning?" He said, raising an eyebrow.

"Fubuki-san!"

The sound of multiple chairs scraping on the floor could be heard as several people got up from their seats and proceeded to surround the confused boy. The people around him started asking questions, which he could barely make out in the midst of the commotion.

"Shirou-kun, are you alright!?" Rani asked, practically leaning into his personal space and causing him to slightly stumble backwards.

The bronze haired Nishinoya cut her off, "Fubuki-san, it is so good to see that you're alright!"

"Are you feeling better? You looked terrible when we saw you!" Okimi commented.

"You _are _going to live? Aren't you!?" Kagayaki Hikari, the silver-haired girl he'd also fought yesterday added.

Finally, the rainbow-haired Yasei practically finished pinning him against the blackboard as he jumped in front of everyone and grabbed the slightly shorter boy by the shoulders.

"Dude!" He said, "You were _badass_ yesterday!"

Shirou's gray eyes darted back and forth between the faces surrounding him, where he also noticed the bobbing blonde hair of Miyuto jumping up and down to try and see him from over the small crowd.

"I… uh…" Not sure where to begin, Shirou looked off to the side as if to look for some sort of help that wasn't there.

Before any other questions could be shot his way, one more student could be heard standing up. The tall young man walked over to the group and put a hand on Yasei's shoulder.

"Now, now." Sousou began, "Don't you think we're overwhelming Shirou-kun a bit? Let's give him some room to breath."

He appeared to be smiling gently, but something in his words told Yasei that he _wasn't _asking. The rainbow-haired teenager hesitated for a second or two, but soon enough let go of the slightly shorter teenager and -along everyone else- took a couple of steps back.

Shirou slowly fixed his uniform, which was now somehow more disheveled than when he first came in through the door. It took him only a moment to straighten himself up, with his face looking perfectly neutral as he did. The white-haired teenager then turned to his classmates and gave them a short bow.

"Thank you for worrying about me," He said, standing back straight, "but I was just sleeping."

The revelation hit everyone around him like a mallet on the head, but one girl could be heard laughing from her seat.

"Told ya'!" The pale Rie said with a smug grin.

"Wait, really?" Itona asked from a distance, getting up from his seat.

Shirou nodded.

"Whenever my body cools down past a certain point, I immediately fall asleep… it's like a defense mechanism of sorts. It's been that way since I was a child." He calmly explained. Obviously, it was slightly more complex than that. However, the truth was that only some areas of his skin had been damaged by the cold; thus explaining the bandages around his torso, arms, and legs.

"Man, so it was just that!" Nishinoya commented, "Well, it's still nice to know that you are feeling well… now, let's all go back to our seats before Takahashi-sensei gets here!"

There was some groaning, but everyone wobbled back to their desks soon enough. Shirou faintly smiled at their reactions, which was noticed by the tall young man still standing nearby.

Sousou's orange eyes stared at Shirou's for a moment, a look which the teenager noticed and returned. The wordless exchange lasted for a mere moment, and then both young men followed the others back to their seats.

Miyuto watched as the slender teenager walked up to the seat to her left, her golden eyes focused on his movement as she held a smile on her face. The boy hadn't even finished sitting down, and she was already scribbling something on a piece of paper at blazing fast speeds.

"...?" Shirou tilted his head slightly when a square-shaped piece of pink paper was pushed onto the top of his desk, but didn't take him long to remember that one such exchange had happened already. He picked the paper up with his pale, slender fingers, and was met with the very recognizable cute handwriting of Kiyamota Miyuto… together with all sorts of hearts, stars and other cute shapes.

"_Shirou-kun~" _The note started, _"Glad to see you're fine!" _

The white-haired boy turned to his left to see the blonde girl smiling earnestly, resting her head on her clasped hands. His first instinct was to write something back, but was once again quick to remind himself that -despite her muteness- the girl was perfectly capable of hearing.

"Thank you." Shirou smiled, "I'm also glad it wasn't anything serious, though I _am _disappointed that the match's result was forfeited…"

Win or lose, the white-haired boy would have preferred either to the overall team match being deemed too risky to continue. His shift in mood was easily noticed by Miyuto, who scribbled down yet another note.

"_Don't feel down! You all did a great job regardless~" _After reading, Shirou turned to see a hearty thumbs-up from the girl. She grinned reassuringly, bringing a slight smile back to the boy's face.

"Yeah," He remembered his epiphany, how he'd found the light in what felt like the darkest moment. A sudden realization that had finally convinced him to give it his all in order to find his own path. "I think everything worked out in the end."

Miyuto nodded, pleased. It was clear, at least to her, that something had changed inside the young man. There was conviction in his eyes, whereas before there was merely a blank slate clouded by doubts and hesitation. The energy he radiated was different as well, which -given that her Quirk used other people's energy- is something only she had noticed.

"You were pretty cool during your own match, Miyuto-san."

Before either of them could say or write anything else, they were suddenly distracted to a third person whose energy didn't need a special sense to be felt. It was gloomy and depressing, like walking back home after getting caught in the rain during a cold night.

The two teenagers turned back to the seat behind Shirou, finding the empty stare of a green haired boy coming their way. Taiyo Kaito sat in silence, merely looking at the two merrier individuals in front of him. However, it felt like he was looking _through _them. Kaito didn't utter a word, and merely held a slight frown on his face.

Miyuto tilted her head nervously, oddly intimidated by the boy's impossible-to-read expression.

"Uhm…" Shirou began, rather calmly. "Is something the matter?"

Kaito's eyes widened slightly, as if he was surprised that he'd just been talked to. Perhaps he hadn't even realized that he was staring, as he quickly turned away from his two classmates and looked out the window to his left. This left Shirou and Miyuto even more puzzled, given that neither of them had really gotten to know the silent boy as of yet.

The golden-blonde girl leant forward and waved her hand around to try and get Kaito's attention, alas, to no success. The green-haired boy was now resting his head on his hand, very clearly making a conscious effort not to look back in their direction.

"..." Shirou was slightly amused, but not particularly eager to press the issue. Miyuto, however, was much more curious. She kept leaning further and further over, fanning her arm almost furiously as she pouted. Her chair made a rattling noise as she struggled around, making Kaito even more uncomfortable.

All her effort was for naught, as her attention snapped back to the classroom door. The sound of it sliding open one more time captured every attention, and all the chatter going on inside the room came to a quick halt. The person's foot wasn't even fully inside the room by the time everyone, even the sleeping Dangan, had jolted up from their seats and into an upright position.

"GOOD MORNING, TAKAHASHI-SENSEI!" The students shouted in unison… those who could, at least.

"Eeeeeek!" The white boot that had peeked in through the door was quickly pulled back out, with Nanao retreating well back into the hallway. After a few seconds though, the bespectacled woman meekly walked into the classroom.

"Uhm… g-good morning..." The brown-haired Hero began, blushing in embarrassment and unable to look at her class straight on. "Y-you guys can sit now."

And sit they did, doing so while they watched the homeroom teacher make her way to the podium up front and center of the room. Before she could speak, Shirou noticed that her violet eyes seemed to be focusing on him. There was a sense of hesitation in her stare, but she quickly went back to her usual demeanor. She was still very clearly insecure, but every day she seemed to loosen up more.

"I wanted to say that everyone did wonderfully yesterday, we were all very pleased with what we saw." She said, addressing the class. It took some effort, but the words came out clearly and loud enough for everyone to hear.

"However," A distant voice continued, "This is only just the beginning, there are many more tests and trials coming your way!"

It came as no surprise, most of the students had already come to terms with the fact that they'd be constantly tested. It took the students a few moments to realize, however, that the voice wasn't Nanao's.

A rustling noise could be heard above the classroom, which most students turned their heads to face. Lo and behold, the air vent's metallic grill had slid upon just in time for them to witness it; and from it, a familiar red-haired woman could be seen hanging upside down.

"SHE CAME IN THROUGH THE VENTILATION SHAFT!" The class realized in unison. The woman let herself fall down into the classroom, landing gracefully on top of the now wide-awake Dangan's desk.

"I've come in through the ventilation shaft." Artemis repeated matter-of-factly, dusting off her trademark red-and-black martial arts clothing. She jumped off of the brown-haired teenager's desk and made her way to the front to stand next to the homeroom teacher.

Most of the class looked at the amazonian woman with dumbfounded looks on their faces, still not quite finished processing what they had just witnessed.

"Nanao, did you tell them already?" She asked demandingly, distressing the shorter woman to her left.

"I-I was just getting to it…!" The homeroom teacher replied, earning herself a nod from Artemis. The red-haired female's then snapped back toward the class, and her finger pointed towards a gray-haired girl who had barely even finished raising her hand.

"What is it, Tsukijo-kun?" She asked rather directly.

Charlotte felt herself shrink a little under her gaze, but nonetheless continued.

"Uhm… what is this all about?" The partly foreign girl asked, not understanding why the red woman had suddenly invaded their classroom so early in the morning.

Artemis sighed, deferring to Nanao.

"We have an announcement to make…" The mild-mannered teacher began, "I probably should have talked to you guys about this sooner."

Several ears perked up across the class, wondering just what devilish machination the school had in mind for them now.

"What is it!?" Yasei asked excitedly, almost jumping out of his seat. "Another fight? I wanna fight again!"

"Oi, oi, wait a second rainbow-kid" Kakeru joked from the back of the class, "If they wanted us to fight they'd just tell us straight up."

"Well… that's true… probably." The tall teenager replied.

"Enough!" Artemis called out, slightly stomping her foot on the floor as she seemed to like doing to get everyone's attention.

She cleared her throat before continuing, making sure nobody else would interrupt her.

"It may seem sudden, but…" She began, "This weekend, we expect you all to be ready for your first Training Camp."

It took a couple of moments to process the information, but soon enough most of the class had a surprised expression on their faces. This was indeed sudden, as nobody was expecting something like this to come up this soon.

"Eh!? But, wasn't the training camp scheduled for much later on into the term?" Itona asked, rather perplexed.

"True." Artemis replied, "However, this is a direct order from the Principal. There have been multiple changes in the schedule; for instance, you'll now be having twice as many training camps as originally intended."

Hibiki's eyebrow twitched up slightly upon hearing this, but the dark haired boy soon went back to absentmindedly doodling in his notebook. Perhaps sketching was a better word for it, as the extremely detailed shape of a mockingbird was slowly starting to take form on top of the white page.

"Are you saying the Principal can just change the schedule however he likes?" Hikaru asked rather loudly. The gray haired teenager rested his head on his elbow, an eyebrow raised on his face.

"To a degree." Artemis clarified, "Either way, that's how things stand. You are expected this weekend, no exceptions."

A few groans could be heard throughout the classroom, clearly some people already had plans for the first weekend of their school year.

"Who gives a crap, we get to have more fun!" Rie cheered, already fantasizing about who she'd get to fight next. She liked to duke it out face to face, so maybe Nishinoya? Or perhaps even that Kaito guy?

Artemis, however, shook her head.

"If you're expecting fun, you clearly picked the wrong school."

* * *

**I'm at a loss for words. Hearing everyone's comments about the last chapter has been one of the highlights of writing this story; together with writing the chapter itself, that is. I don't think I've ever worked so hard on a piece of writing before, so I'm very happy to see that it paid off. **

**This story is only just getting started though; there's plenty more to see and a long road left to travel. **

**Nowhere else to go but forward. **


	12. 12 - Premonitions of Disaster

**Uhm… anyone still reading this?**

* * *

**Chapter 12 - Premonitions of Disaster **

The air in the room was stale, the building had clearly been abandoned for several years now.

The shattered windows were boarded up and the door locked shut, but enough daylight seeped inside to be able to see just about everything in the dilapidated chamber.

"You…" An older man's voice, full of spite, began. "You won't get away with this…!"

His blue business suit was stained and scraped, the sleeves and pants torn where they had been tied behind behind his back and around the wooden chair he was currently occupying. His face was bruised and scratched up, and his graying hair was disheveled. His few possessions were laid out on a table before him; his wallet, car keys, cellphone, and an antique pocket watch. He was understandably agitated, breathing heavily into the frigid room. His wrinkled face was in a frown of both confusion and fear, and his body shivered under the unbelievably cold atmosphere… it was still winter, after all.

Adrenaline pumped through his veins as he tried to turn his head around, seeing the same four hooded figures standing around the room. They wore cloaks the color of blood, which hid most of their bodies. And their faces were covered with pale masks, holding no expression beyond two simple, round orifices to see through. The figures had barely moved an inch since he regained consciousness, with the exception of the one nearest to him… which would start shaking and muttering unintelligible nonsense every other minute.

"Release me, now!" The man yelled again, "Don't you hear me!?"

Like the first couple dozens of times, his words fell on deaf ears. None of the four moved an inch. Besides the shaking figure near him, there was another one which immediately caught his eye. It was a massive person leaning against a wall, so tall and muscular that the cape covering its body only went down a couple of inches past their hips, revealing a pair of black trousers with leather straps all throughout their length, and tall, dark boots.

The other two, fully covered, merely stood as far away from him as they could. One small, possibly a woman, and one he guessed to be about the same size he was.

Getting desperate, the restrained man raised his voice one more.

"Don't you know who I am!? Release me, now!" He yelled, "I command you!"

As soon as the last three words were heard, the shaking figure sharply turned its head towards him. Through the slits in the mask, the old man could see a pair of terribly bloodshot green eyes glaring at him with disdain. Safe to say, there was in instant feeling of regret in his chest.

"_Command!?" _The figure said almost in a shriek, walking two long steps over to the restrained man. "And just who _are you _to command _me!?_".

The figure's voice, which the man assumed to be a male, was high-pitched and erratic. This person was the skinniest of the four inside the room, despite easily being the second tallest. It wasn't hard for the restrained man to notice how the cloak hung loosely from a boney pair of shoulders, or how its sleeves were unbelievably baggy upon arms that must have been just as thin as his teenage daughter's. But even then, he was terrified of what this demented person could to to him.

"I...I-" The man's voice broke, "I'm the M-Minister of- GAH!"

The older man shrieked as an unbelievably long and skinny hand extended from underneath the cloak's sleeve to hold him by the top of the head. Despite it being a glorified skeleton with pale, blotchy and almost greenish skin, the hand gripped his head like a vice threatening to crush it like a melon. It became very clear now that the source of the pungent smell in the room was very likely this same person.

"The _WHAT_!?" The figure leaned down, shrieking into the man's ear through his mask. "_I can't HEAR you!" _

Almost crying, the man opened his mouth amidst the terrible pain assailing his skull.

"Agh! I work for the Government, I'm T-The Minister of J-Justice!" He yelped out, just barely.

"_Justice_!?" The hooded man shrieked, "And just _what _do _you_ even _know _about JUSTICE!?"

The grip on the old man's head grew even stronger,so much that the hooded figure's long fingernails started to cut and dig into his scalp. The Minister started screaming, while the hooded figure could only laugh at his agony. Before he could goad him further however, the smallest figure on the other side of the room spoke up.

"Loki." The small figure spoke up with a feminine, yet very dry voice, "Stop it, I'm warning you."

The sadistic figure, which had been referred to as Loki, turned to face her. Through the slits in his mask, his eyes could be seen narrowing in disdain.

"Shut up, woman!" He shouted, "I don't answer to _you._"

The hooded female shook her head.

"My will is His will." She said, "Are you prepared to defy our Leader in front of me?"

Loki deliberated, hesitated and otherwise pondered on her words for a moment. He then cursed under his breath and slammed the Minister's face down against the table in frustration before walking away from him, producing a loud bang and a cracking noise upon impact. It didn't take a genius to know that the cracking wasn't from the table or from the chair, but rather from the man's nose.

"Aaaa…. Aaagh…!" The Minister groaned. His face now rested on a puddle of his own blood, which gushed out of his broken nose.

"WHY!?" Loki continued, holding his head with both hands and staring up to the ceiling. "I PRAY and I PRAY and I _listen, _and I _follow. _Always loyal, always ready, always _faithful_! So, why, WHY does this WOMAN get to speak for _Him _over _ME_!?"

Everyone watched quietly as the gaunt man threw one of his tantrums, stomping on the floor like a child. He clawed at his own head from over the hood, ripping it apart and revealing tufts of green hair which poked out from underneath. It was hard to tell if he was crying or laughing as he hollered, but _both _was a reasonable guess.

"SHUT UP, LOKI!" The man standing next to the female figure finally added. He appeared to be an averagely tall male of muscular build, though nowhere near as large as the silent man standing on the opposite side of the room or nearly as long as Loki. He angrily stomped his way over to the wretched figure, clearly bothered by the long cloak constricting his movement.

He grabbed the skinny male by the collar and pulled him hard to see him eye to eye, though Loki didn't seem to notice any of this happening. His bellowing continued.

"Oi, Beowulf!" The rough male called over to the massive figure, "Can you make this bastard shut up!?"

The large figure, referred to as Beowulf, merely shrugged and turned away.

"..." A low-pitched grunt was the only thing heard from him, exasperating the angered man even further.

"Tch... I'll just do it myself...!" The man raised his other hand, a nearly invisible energy appearing around it. The pressure inside the room suddenly increased manifold, but Loki's crying was yet to cease… something the man aimed to correct, as his gloved hand neared the squalid figure's throat.

"Stop it, Whisper… both of you." The woman spoke once again, "He will be here soon."

Both figures turned to her, and Loki's crying instantly stopped.

"He will!?" Loki asked excitedly, his entire aura completely different than it was a second ago.

The female nodded from behind her mask, "He and Mumei."

"That so?" Whisper let go of Loki, who scurried off to stand close to the room's only entrance.

It had been a while since all of them had been together in the same place, preferring to communicate indirectly or through intermediaries. Whatever their leader wanted with them, and with the man he had ordered them to capture, was big. The brash man walked over to the Minister, who was once again barely conscious after being on the receiving end of one of Loki's outbursts. At least his Quirk had not been activated throughout that whole mess, he wasn't sure the old man would survive it in his current state.

"Still…" Whisper lifted the man's limp head by the hair, "Whatever does he want with this geezer? Did you hear anything, Fujin?"

He turned to face the female, who shook her head silently. Fujin was generally the first one to hear from their Leader, or at least the one responsible for making sure his information reached the other members of their group. As far as hierarchy was concerned, Mumei was still above her.

"So, not even you…" He muttered, and then leant down towards the man. "Either way...

"_I'd say you're already a dead man, friend."_ He said to his ear, getting only a desperate but barely intelligible groan as a response. He then let the Minister's head plop back down to the table, making a small splashing sound as it fell back into the pool of nose blood.

Whisper sighed, hanging his head "Old men are no fun…"

"But kids are?" The female asked accusingly, well-aware of what the male had been up to for the past several years. They had all been commanded to lay low, though some of them clearly had different standards for what laying low meant.

"Look-" Whisper turned to her, but was quickly interrupted by Loki's squealing.

"I can feel them!" The man jumped, "They're coming up, I can feel it!"

The room immediately went silent, all arguments put on hold for the moment. The Minister, who had no idea who this Leader they spoke of was supposed to be, nervously eyed the door. He raised his bruised head slightly, glaring at the entrance expectantly. He could hear the echo of footsteps approaching the door, and then again coming to a halt right before it. As if on cue Loki immediately went down to his knees, pressing his masked face to the floor.

The old man gulped as the metallic door creaked open, and the air in the entire room seemed to go still. A gloved hand pushed the door, and two more cloaked figures entered the room. Their robes were exactly the same, blood-red and tattered. However, their masks were different.

The one in front, opening the door, had a mask that was split vertically in two colors. Black and White, left and right respectively. It belonged to an admittedly slender and slim figure, who quickly made way for the person behind him to enter the room.

The Minister felt his headache grow many times worse as soon as _that person _entered the room. It appeared to be a man of slightly above average height, and of average build. However, not even the behemoth of a person standing by the corner felt as imposing as he did. There was an air about him that made the old man feel intensely threatened, even before the man had uttered a single word.

His mask was a reflection of everyone else's, except that it was made from a grayish metallic material and engraved in strange patterns. It was barely noticeable in such dim lighting, but his cloak may have also been a shade darker than everyone else's.

Every single person in the room went down to one knee, even the brash Whisper. Then, the woman who had been referred to as Fujin spoke.

"Welcome back, Master. We have captured the target, as you requested."

The Minister tensed up as their Master stood silent, until a voice broke the silence from underneath the metallic mask.

"Good. But, have I not told you to stop calling me that?" His voice was low-pitched yet smooth, sounding imposing yet charming at the same time. There was a charismatic, or perhaps endearing feeling to it, even as he scolded his underlings.

"I am not anybody's Master."

The four kneeling figures shook slightly, though none dared say anything for or against his argument. The Minister knew what that was. It was fear, they dared not recognize the man as anything but their Master. It was engraved into their psyche, almost as a self-preservation instinct. These same four people tore down an entire battalion of security guards and several layers of protection with minimal effort not even a day prior, and then successfully disappeared with a high-priority individual before any Pro-Heroes could arrive to the scene. Yet all they could do is lower their heads and remain silent before the dark figure.

The Master, however, quickly dismissed the subject and turned to the trembling old man still restrained in the middle of the room. Perhaps it was due to the Minister's current, sorry state, but something made him hesitate slightly before speaking.

"It was that guy's fault!" Whisper was quick to point out, "He still can't behave himself, all these years later…"

Loki squirmed, raising his head from the floor and shooting a deathly glare at the male.

"It was nobody's fault but his very own!" He defended, "He is a sinner! A filthy RAT who pretends to speak in the name of _justice_! He-!"

All it took was for the Master to raise his hand slightly, and the wretched Loki fell silent. Like an obedient dog, he turned around and went back to his whispering prayer.

"This man is our guest." The Master said, "But, we will address that later. We have more pressing matters to discuss."

Everyone quieted down expectantly, though they were very much aware of what the topic of discussion would be.

"It's about the Kirisaki Academy matter." He declared, catching the Minister's attention immediately.

Mumei, the person with the mask split between black and white, spoke up slowly. His effeminate voice contrasted with the Master's low tone, though he appeared to be just as serious.

"There's been a change of plans." He said, "We must act sooner; this weekend, in fact."

"What!?" Whisper exclaimed, "So soon!? W-Why!?"

"An ideal opportunity has presented itself." The Master interjected, his dry voice injected with a slight hint of pride.

Whisper stood up, "Did you… _see_ this?"

The Master stood silently for a second, "It wasn't necessary. All you need to know is that we must act now, before we are noticed."

Although they didn't sit right with him, his words made sense. They'd exposed themselves for the first time in many years, it'd only be a matter of time for people to start connecting dots.

The Master turned to the two figures on the left.

"Loki, Beowulf." He called out, getting both figures to immediately look his way. "I have chosen you two to carry out my will, do you understand?"

The lanky figure on the ground practically crawled its way to the Master's feet.

"Understood!" He exclaimed ecstatically, "I _will not _disappoint you, I am ready to carry out your orders!"

"Good." The Master nodded, "You shall take a couple of your disciples as well, make sure they understand what will be asked of them."

"Of course! Of course!" Loki continued, "They are ready, they are! I have made sure of it… slowly… painfully…!"

"And you, Beowulf?" The Master asked.

The massive figure finally separated itself from the wall.

"...understood." The man growled in a low tone.

"Good." The Master said. He knew they would listen to him, that they would carry out his orders no matter the risk or consequence. That's the way they'd always been, no matter how long they went without contact. It was the first stage of his plan, and the most important. The introduction, no great story could exist without one.

"Now, then…" The leader turned towards the battered minister, "Onto the other matter at hand."

Everyone attentively waited to finally learn why they had risked their necks to grab a hold of the government official. Everything their leader came up with was not without reason, so there was bound to be a damn good one.

"This is Japan's Minister of Justice, Ichinose Seigo." The masked man began, his voice taking on an even more intimidating tone. "Throughout his life, he has occupied several different positions in the country's government; some more important than others. Either way, he has had a successful career, there are no scandals worthy of note attached to his name. And as far as anyone knows, he is an honest man and an exemplary citizen."

"However," He continued, after a short pause. "This is also one of the men who, 20 years ago, greenlit Project Pantheon."

The old man's eyes widened at the declaration, with everyone's hooded heads jolting in his direction shortly after. He hadn't heard that name in years, but everything suddenly came together.

The minister gritted his teeth.

"I see… of course, it all makes sense now…" He said spitefully, his bloodied face shooting an accusing look at the figures in the room.

And then, he laughed. An agonizing ordeal due to his bruised ribs, and the laughter soon turned into a painful cough.

"It's you…" The minister winced out, "The brats from back then… I remember now."

"You… you-!" Whisper clenched his fist and attempted to take a step forward, but was quickly stopped by the shorter Fujin.

There was an extremely heavy silence filling the room, one that was very surprisingly broken by the restrained man; whose mood had mysteriously lightened up.

"So?" Minister Ichinose began, "If this is about revenge, then I suggest you take care of it quickly. It won't be much longer until this location is discovered."

Nobody deigned to respond. Not the brash Whisper, the chaotic Loki, the stoic Fujin, the silent Beowulf, the endearing Mumei, or their mysterious leader… or master. The older man, thus, scoffed.

"If you want me to believe this isn't about revenge, you'll have to hit me harder."

"No," The Leader interrupted with a suave tone, "You are not mistaken, Mr. Minister. This is very much about revenge."

His voice held no animosity, no hatred, or contempt. He merely spoke matter-of-factly, fully in control of his emotions and not letting any of his feelings seep through his speech. He was unnervingly calm and confident, and one could tell that he was smiling behind that metallic mask of his.

"This is about revenge… and about so much more." He said, earning yet another scornful scoff from the old man. He was clearly challenging the imposing figure to enlighten him. It was hard to tell if he was genuinely interested, or merely trying to get them to stall themselves.

"What you people did to us… to all of us, it was certainly unforgivable." He said, walking over to the man. "However, it was merely a symptom of a larger problem. A problem that exists to this day… fear. A fear so great that it led you down the path of darkness, and to us."

The Minister laughed, "What is that senseless talk? Fear? Darkness? You are nothing but the failed solution to a practical problem, nothing more."

"Call it what you like." The leader continued, calmly. "But I _see_ the truth. The truth in your words, the truth in the past, the present… and the future. This world is doomed, a great evil is looming in the shadows. The pillar that holds our fragile peace together is all but broken, and when it finally does fall… nobody will be there to stop it."

"All Might will never fall." The Minister declared decisively. "Your eyes see nothing but lies, the truth you claim to see is merely the truth you _want_ to see."

"That is how things may have been before." The leader brought his hand up to his mask, lightly touching the area directly underneath its eyes. "I have evolved. The boundaries have been broken, and the truth of the world is laid bare before my eyes."

From within the darkness of the mask's eye sockets, the Minister could catch a glimpse of a pair of pristine silver eyes staring right back into his own.

"Minister." The leader began, "I will be the one to guide the world to its salvation, I have seen it."

Finally, the old man burst out laughing once more. He was hysterical, as if he had just been told the best joke in the world.

"But, I can't do it by myself… I need allies… friends in high places." He turned his head toward Mumei, who had been patiently standing by his side. The smaller figure nodded, immediately understanding what was being asked of him.

With surprising agility, Mumei took a hold of the back of the Minister's head. There was a pulsating feeling that traveled throughout the room and resonated on everybody's chest. The Minister immediately fell silent and sat perfectly still, his eyes rolling back into their orbits as his mouth appeared to be muttering a multitude of words at impossibly fast speeds. This went on for several seconds, until finally, the man fell back down into the table. This time, he wouldn't be waking up anytime soon.

"We should have just gutted him and left him to rot." Whisper said, "Annoying prick."

"That wouldn't do, now, Whisper-kun~" Mumei beamed, wiping his hands clean on his cloak. "People like him have their uses, at least for some time."

"Tch." You could practically feel the stocky man rolling his eyes, "So, do we just leave him here."

Fujin nodded, "Yes. It shouldn't take long for them to find this place. An hour, at the longest."

The leader turned to the group, and everyone was instantly back to their attentive selves.

"The path to salvation is an arduous one, but only we can make that sacrifice." He began, "Everyone knows what they must do, Kirisaki Academy is our first target."

Loki and Beowulf nodded in unison, remembering that they had been chosen to carry out the task. He then turned towards the door, and everyone walked up to him.

"In order for the world to be saved… Fubuki Hyoga must fall."

* * *

**Kirisaki Academy - Training Camp Grounds**

The days came and went, and finally, Saturday had come. Classes were finished by noon, and all the students in Class 1-A had been transported to a forested area within the school's grounds. And much like Artemis had warned them previously, they were put straight to work.

Shirou bent forward and leaned on his knees, panting heavily as he stood on the forested area's grass. He wore a plain white tank-top and a pair of black sweatpants. The air was chilly and rather cold, but the cold weather was pretty much still a non-factor for him. Still, some small beads of sweat had started to form on his forehead.

As he heaved for air, he could feel his abdomen burning and his chest hurting. They had been at it for hours non-stop; running uphill, climbing up a cliff, body-weight exercises, and everything in between. He frankly couldn't remember the last time he'd been pushed so far during endurance training, which was saying a lot given who his grandfather was.

"GET UP, YOU LAZY WORMS" He could hear Artemis' voice echoing through the plains. She was a devil's very own drill sergeant, of that much he was sure.

The white-haired boy straightened himself up with a groan, observing the area around him as he did. They were currently near the edge of the forest, where a grassy plain met the edge of the trees. There was even an impressively large pond nearby, though it really only was a few feet deep at most. There was a small stream that ran down from the woods and into said stream, with gravel and small rocks dotting the landscape around it.

"I'm straight up… not having a good time..." Shirou could hear the rainbow-haired Yasei groan out. The tall teenager was completely laid out on the floor, staring up into the cloudy sky. He wore a neon pink tracksuit that made him stand out like a sore spot in the green area, so much that looking at him made Shirou feel oddly more tired.

Looking off to the other side, Shirou saw the rest of his classmates in varying states of exhaustion. His gray eyes were immediately drawn towards Sosuou, who was already standing straight up with both hands on his hips. The tips of his long-ish black hair feel down into the back of his light green tracksuit as he stared up into the sky, taking calming deep breaths.

He was then distracted by Rie and Tsukijo-san, who had started arguing very early into the exercises and somehow still had the energy to keep going at it. The red haired girl had managed to hear their half-foreign classmate making a sly remark about her, and they hadn't stopped competing ever since.

"You just want me to beat you up, don'tcha!? Cus's you're asking for it!" The fiery Rie yelled as she got up into the shorter girl's space. She was one of the few other students who, like Shirou, weren't bothered by cold weather. Her physiology was partly _undead_ after all, and it showed in her resilience and appearance both.

"Oh yes, straight to the fists with you, isn't it? Truly not much better than a gorilla if you ask me, all brawn and no brain." The pale girl smugly remarked, twirling a strand of her long silver hair around her finger.

"I will _literally _staple your eyelids to the back of your head."

Their loud argument started to rouse the people around them, who became increasingly worried that a fight could seriously break out. Miyuto, in particular, was very quick to get back up to her feet.

The golden-blonde haired girl approached the arguing pair, waving her hands around to try and get their attention. She appeared to be distressed, but alas, she wasn't able to get either of them to look her way even as she bounced up and down around them. She would've gotten closer, but the aura around the two girls was not the sort that one could easily walk into.

This was very easily subverted, however, by the frowning woman wearing all red.

"You-" She stood right next to the two, crossing her arms. She towered over them, and most of the class appeared to shriek in unison.

"What-!?" Rie cut her off, only to realize a second too late that the person standing beside them was none other than Artemis herself. The older woman raised an eyebrow expectantly, but even the feisty Rie knew she had just screwed up royally.

"I… uh…" The discolored girl took a couple of steps back, looking off to the side. Even Charlotte was reluctant to say or do anything, standing perfectly still in place.

The tall woman looked at them with great intensity in her blood red eyes.

"You both must really love running, don't you?" She said in an oddly calm manner. Everyone, though, knew that she was really pissed. "Since you love running so much, why don't you go run an extra twenty laps around the pond?"

Rie almost let a smirk form on her lips. The circumference of the pond, though fairly irregular, wasn't even as large as an actual running track. She thought the twenty laps were going to be a literal breeze, being bothersome at worst. Charlotte wasn't very happy about it, but she was ready and willing to just get it over with.

As they turned to leave, they were stopped by Artemis.

"Hold on." She said loudly, "I'm not done with you yet."

The tall woman buried a hand into a hidden fold in her martial arts dress, producing an item that stroke despair into the hearts of both girls.

"This is Artemis-chan's magical friendship renewal tool, you'll be wearing this as you run." She deadpanned, extending her arm forward.

It was a pair of handcuffs. One end of it was fixed on Charlotte's right wrist, and the other on Rie's left. The pair was then sent on their way, their mood infinitely more sour than before. Suddenly, the twenty laps felt much, much longer than before.

Kakeru laughed loudly as the pair of girls jogged past him, with both of them shooting a deadly glare in his direction. The short black-haired boy wasn't fazed however, and continued to joke.

"Have fun, have fun~." He said as he sat back down on the grass, preparing to enjoy their struggle very thoroughly. He was, however, quickly startled by a looming shadow standing behind him.

"What are _you_ sitting down for!? You didn't even do half of the exercises." Artemis asked bluntly.

"Ah, you see Artemis-sensei, it's all about strategically allocating my resources where they are needed the most. Wouldn't want me to burn all of my energy within the first few hours now, would you?" He argued confidently, earning himself the deadliest glare he had ever seen. He could feel a cold sweat running down his back under the intensity of the woman's gaze, and finally stood back up without even having to be told to do so.

From a distance, Okimi and Rani chuckled together at this. The training was harsh, but the scenery was beautiful and it was very fun to be around their classmates in this type of setting. It wasn't so much a competition (at least not directly), and one could almost argue that it was shaping up to be an unexpectedly entertaining experience.

The dark-skinned girl stretched her arms, letting out a deep breath.

"I was surprised when we were asked to come here, but it's honestly not bad at all."

Rani had to think about it for a second, the brown-haired girl found it a bit harder to appreciate the subtle things that were going on besides all the running and exercise.

"Well... guess so." She began a bit hesitantly, "Sure beats math, or whatever that class was."

"Eh, Tanso-san, do you have a hard time with math?" Okimi asked, genuinely curious and trying to learn more about her classmate.

The taller girl simply shrugged, "Numbers are boring."

"Yeah… I guess you could say that." Okimi chuckled nervously.

She then looked off into the distance, to where most of the boys appeared to have assembled for the time being. They appeared to be chatting cordially with each other, which continued to be surprising for her. With the exception of a very specific pair, the boys in the class appeared to be a fairly quiet bunch. It was the first time she had been in a class where the girls were that much louder than the boys, at least on average.

Hibiki stood a few feet away from the rest of the boys, looking in the direction of the pond. He didn't appear to be interested in the two sour faced girls running laps around it, but rather, his copper-colored eyes appeared to simply focus on the pristine water that gently rocked back and forth as the breeze came and went. Despite facing the opposite direction, he was quick to notice that someone had approached him from behind.

"Suehiro-san…" A gentle voice called out. It was the dark-skinned, small boy known as Kurapati Itona. His long, ivory-colored hair had been tied into a high ponytail than usual to keep it from dragging on the grass, giving him an interesting change of image.

"You can call me by my first name." Hibiki interrupted, speaking in a calm manner. His face retained its perfectly neutral expression, though he didn't turn away from the pond until several seconds later.

"Then… Hibiki-san." Itona smiled nervously, "Are you alright? You've been spacing out… more than usual."

The quiet, lithe boy made an expression of curiosity.

"Is that so?" His long blueish hair was styled in a small braid, which rested on the top of his shoulder. He wore a navy blue tracksuit, contrasting with Itona's own orange colored one.

"I just like it." Hibiki said quietly, "This place, I mean."

Though his voice and overall demeanor didn't show much emotion, the short Itona realized it made sense.

"Huh, so you like places like this?" The long-haired boy walked up to stand next to Hibiki, and the two looked back over the pond. They were standing at the top of a small hill, so their view of the landscape was pretty good. Kirisaki Academy and the simulation complex were in the opposite direction, so there were no buildings anywhere in the vicinity. Just nature, as small a patch of it as it was.

"I think it suits you." Itona added all of the sudden, very much still focused on the landscape.

Hibiki raised an eyebrow, "How so?"

Itona suddenly became flustered, it appeared he hadn't intended to say that out loud.

"Ah-" He took a step back, scrambling for words. "I just… well, you have a rather… artistic air about you. Like a painting… I guess…. Is that weird thing to say?"

Hibiki didn't seem to react very strongly to the words, turning his sight back to the horizon. A breeze blew over from the direction of the pond, rocking a small set of waves over the rocky shore. The blades of grass danced back and forth, and the trees swayed behind them. It was starting to get rather chilly. And judging by the position of the sun, it was starting to get late.

"I don't know." He said, almost muttering. "But, thanks… I guess it does suit me."

"Oi!" Before either of them could say anything else, they could hear a very recognizable voice beckoning them over from behind. "Both of you, we're heading into the woods!"

They turned to see the bronze skinned, bronze-haired Nishinoya. He waved his hand at them from a distance, and they could see their classmates starting to assemble behind him and closer to the edge of the forest.

"We're going to set up camp, hurry up!" The teenager yelled once more, before turning and walking away to meet with the rest.

Itona let out a big sigh, "Camping, huh? I guess we were doing that, weren't we?"

The short boy wasn't looking forward to spending the night in the woods, but was at least willing to give it a try. Hibiki's expression however, as per usual, was nigh impossible to read. It didn't take the two boys long to follow behind their classmates, or to notice that Rie and Charlotte had already rejoined them. Their wrists, however, had not been separated.

The class then went into the forest, following Artemis down a fairly noticeable trail that ran along the side of the stream. It was rather wide, so the twenty students were fairly spread out and walking at their own pace.

Shirou walked somewhere by the middle, observing the woods surrounding them. He wasn't an expert on trees, but the vegetation around the area appeared to resemble the one from back at his family's estate. He loved to walk the woods as a child, and remembered fondly how he'd purposely gotten himself lost a couple of times to try and hide from his grandfather's search parties for as long as he could. He now realized it was a pretty stupid thing to do, but it they were nontheless some of the most memorable events of his childhood. The following scoldings, however, weren't.

As the white-haired boy walked lost in his own thoughts, he noticed that someone had approached him from the side. It was the sound, or rather the lack thereof, that quickly told him who it was.

He turned to see Miyuto leaning forward from the side to see his face, a warm smile present on the blonde girl's face. The tall girl wore a burnt orange and white tracksuit, as well as a black t-shirt underneath it.

"Hello, Miyuto-san." Shirou greeted with a slight nod and smile, earning himself a beaming grin from the mute girl. She straightened herself back up and pointed at Shirou's body, all while tilting her head slightly to the side and raising an eyebrow.

Shirou put a hand over his chest and moved his shoulder a bit.

"I'm still a bit sore, but my body's pretty much healed completely. I can move just fine, but I only confirmed that a bit earlier while we were running around." He explained.

Miyuto clasped her hands together and smiled, rather pleased.

"Yeah, I'm glad as well. But, I did tell you I was never really in danger, didn't I?"

The girl gave the slightly taller boy a frown and a slight pout, not happy with how careless he was with his own health. It was a difficult thing to get a mutual understanding on, since Shirou had been conditioned to merely work to push his limits as much as he could against any possible threats it may pose to his own body.

"Yeah, yeah… I'll try to be more careful next time." He defended himself, raising both hands in a sign of defeat.

The pair had sat next to each other for an entire week now, and Shirou was starting to get very good at understanding what Miyuto wanted to say just from reading her body language and facial expressions. Whether it was Shirou's natural observation abilities or Miyuto's talent for communicating despite her lack of a voice, the two were able to have surprisingly normal conversations with each other.

"Tch, Tch, Tch." Someone else added, "That won't do, Shirou-kun!"

The rainbow-haired Yasei appeared from behind, throwing an arm over the shorter Shirou's shoulder and leaning on his body as they walked . His mismatched eyes, one cyan and one violet, were looking straight at the white-haired boy from extremely up close.

"We are young men, you and I." Yasei said loudly, "It is in the spirit of youth to be reckless!"

Unbothered by the sudden contact, Shirou merely raised an eyebrow.

"I-Is that so?" He wondered, genuinely interested in what the taller teen had to say.

"Yeah! You have to be adventurous, just go wild and have fun my dude! The world is for those with the guts to take it!" He dramatically pointed up to the sky with his free hand, even though they were well underneath the foliage by that point.

"I… uh," Shirou looked over to the side, where Miyuto stood with crossed arms and a very unimpressed expression on her face. "I'll… keep it in mind?"

"You do just that, my friend! One day you will thank me for imparting this wisdom upon you, the wisdom of Konton Yasei himself!"

The students kept walking behind Artemis. It was a rather long trek going up a hill, but eventually they could see a clearing in the distance. As the group walked out of the woods, they were met by a large area of low grass and some patches of dirt. And most importantly, however, by a medium-sized white cargo vehicle.

The truck's door swung open, and from it, a young woman wearing white-and-blue climbed out slowly.

"I hate driving…" Nanao-sensei lamented, looking disheartened.

A portion of the students immediately rushed over to her, circling around both Nanao and the vehicle.

"Nanao-sense, you're here!" Okimi exclaimed, after having wondered where their homeroom teacher had disappeared to earlier.

"Well… yeah. I'm back now." Nanao replied, not very enthusiastically. The bespectacled woman appeared to be very stressed, or at least more than usual. She was very clearly not an outdoors sort of person.

Artemis made her way to the back of the truck, and pulled on a lever which brought the cargo door down. The students looked inside, to find all sorts of camping supplies and stuff such as tents, portable cooking stations, and the like.

"Everyone line up!" The tall woman commanded, "Let's get camp set up so we can get back to training!"

Some of the students groaned in unison, but everyone was quick to do as she said. They all made a line and passed stuff around as Artemis passed it from inside. Given that there were 22 people in total, it took them very little time to get everything down to the ground.

"Alright, now, everyone will be sleeping in groups of two." She continued, getting down from the back of the truck. "Just pick whoever you want and get those tents set up quickly, don't waste any time!"

There immediately was some muttering heard along the group of students, and the black haired Misao was quick to raise her hand.

"Uhm, sensei…" She began, "There are 11 boys and 9 girls in this class, doesn't that mean that one of the boys will have to share a tent with one of the girls?"

Artemis stopped and thought about it for a second, "Hmm, true, I don't think that's allowed…"

After a couple of seconds of quick deliberating, she then spoke up once more.

"Oh, well," The red-haired woman pointed her finger straight at one of the boys, "Koge Hajiro, you will share your tent with Nanao and I, it is the largest one."

The avian boy pointed to himself looked from side to side in disbelief, "E-eh? Me!?"

"Yes, you!" Artemis said angrily, "Now go get that tent set up, don't just stand there looking like an idiot!"

"Y-Yes, ma'am...!" The dark haired boy ran away in distress, picking the tent up from the ground with some difficulty. It was indeed the largest by far, easily twice the size than the rest. He then scurried off to the side, not even sure if he'd be able to get the thing set up by himself.

"Uhm, Artemis-sensei… there's still one girl too few." Misao continued. Getting rid of the extra boy had not gotten rid of that issue, as one of the girls would still be left alone nonetheless.

The woman, however, didn't take long to reply this time around. She pointed toward Rie and Charlotte, who were still joined together by their wrists.

"Those two count as a single one for all intents and purposes for as long as they are wearing Artemis-chan's magical friendship renewal device, they'll be sharing a tent with a third person." She declared matter-of-factly, earning her a disgruntled groan from the two girls.

"Why do I have to even share a tent with this annoying skunk!?" Rie pointed at Charlotte, who rolled her eyes at her for what must have been the tenth time in the day.

Artemis merely shot them one of her deadly glares, getting them to quiet down immediately.

"You'll be together until you learn to get along. And don't you even think about taking that thing off by yourselves… I will personally demonstrate to you what hell looks like if you do."

The two girls gulped down in unison, and quickly fell back in line.

"Now get going, you have fifteen minutes!" The red-haired woman turned around, and went off to help Nanao get the cooking station set up. Something told her that the brown-haired woman would end up burning the entire forest down if left to her own devices.

With their instructions clear, the students got to work. Pairing together took some time, especially since one of the girls had to volunteer to share a cramped -and potentially very noisy- tent with both Rie and Charlotte. Ultimately, Rani decided to go along with it out of her own volition.

The rest eventually fell into place with those they were already familiar with, or simply with the ones who happened to be closest to them. The tents were of a very uniform, straightforward sort, so it didn't take much thinking to figure out how to get them set up. Some pairs chatted as they worked, while others merely went through the motions to try and get their tent set up as quickly as possible.

Shiraishi Kirina was somewhat familiar with the subject, having camped out a fair share of times in her life. She dexterously fixed the base of the tent to the ground, and then helped her partner to get the upper portion of the tent to stand up straight. Neither she nor Chieki talked much, but they seemed to be working together just fine.

The reptilian girl, however, seemed to be calmly observing Chieki as she worked.

Noticing this, the red-eyed girl became a bit flustered. Kirina's amber eyes could be very intense when fixated on something, after all.

"I-Is something the matter?" The timid girl asked, almost hiding her face with the knot she was working on with her hands.

"No." The white-haired girl deadpanned, going silent for a few seconds. Eventually, though, she continued despite not looking at her directly.

"It's just that you have interesting eyes." Kirina said calmly.

As if getting really self-conscious, Chieki adjusted her round glasses.

"Is that so…?" She wasn't sure whatever the white skinned girl could be talking about. It couldn't have been about their color, since there were a few other people with red eyes around.

Kirina nodded, "There aren't many humans with eyes like yours."

The strangely detached way the reptilian girl said the word 'human' sent a slight shiver down Cheiki's spine. It wasn't hard to tell that the girl didn't consider herself to be human, or at least not a human like everybody else. She'd heard of people with mutant Quirks having those sorts of views on themselves, but to her, Kirina looked very much like just another girl with a slightly altered appearance. The slight distress in her face must have been apparent, since Kirina followed her statement up with some more words.

"If anything, your eyes are more like ours." The girl said, stretching an arm in her direction. Once again, her choice of words was interesting. The bespectacled girl didn't quite grasp what she was trying to say with 'Ours'. However, she found out soon enough.

Something could be seen moving under the sleeve of her white and gray tracksuit, slithering its way around Kirina's arm and towards her hand. The pale, diamond-shaped head of a small snake soon peeked out from underneath. The creature wrapped itself around Kirina's white wrist, resting on her hand and looking straight at Okimi with golden eyes not too much unlike the girl's own.

"This is Yuka." Kirina said, "She will be sleeping with us tonight, I thought I should at least tell you first."

The snake made what appeared to be a nodding gesture, or perhaps even a slight bow. Chieki thought she must have been hallucinating, but there it was right in front of her a mere couple of feet away.

"D-Do you… carry Yuka-chan with you all the time?" Chieki asked shyly. At the very least, she didn't seem to be afraid of the creature.

Kirina nodded silently, drawing her arm back towards her. And just as suddenly as it had appeared, the small snake slithered back inside her owner's clothes. That'd be something Chieki would have a hard time forgetting or unseeing. At the very least she wouldn't have to find out about it in the middle of the night.

The pair worked quietly for a couple more minutes, and all the while Chieki couldn't stop thinking about the meaning behind Kirina's words. Had they just been a weird way to lead into Yuka's introduction, or perhaps something more?

Just as they were wrapping up, a pair of footsteps was heard coming in their direction.

"Yo!" It was Nishinoya, now wearing his jacket around his waist. "Do you guys need any help?"

"No, thanks." Kirina muttered as she walked right past the stocky boy, throwing some leftover tools into his arms as she passed him.

"R-Right…" The bronze-skinned boy said, looking at their indeed finished and rather flawless-looking tent. He then looked at Chieki, who eyed him warily.

"Ah, Okita-san." Nishinoya began, "We'll be having something to eat before we continue training, just thought I'd let you know."

The pale girl nodded slightly, and watched as the boy turned around to leave. From the looks of it, everyone was just about done and lunch was going to take place now. That must've taken some convincing, as Artemis appeared to have been fully intent on having them go the whole day without eating anything until dinnertime.

Regardless, Chieki stood up. And after taking a couple of seconds to collect her thoughts, left towards the cooking area that had been set up by Artemis and Nanao-sensei.

There was some discussion as to who was going to take care of what and which of the students were going to help, but eventually everyone worked together to start preparing sandwiches and some soup. Knowing that they'd be worked to death for the remainder of the evening, the students took the chance to have a lively last meal in that little clearing surrounded by the forest.

All things considered, it was a beautiful day.

* * *

The rustling of the leaves, the rocking of the pond's waves, or the sounds of joyous laughter.

None could be heard all the way up the cliffside, where only the dry sound of the wind filled the silence.

And only five hooded figures populated the area.

Loki crouched down dangerously close to the edge, shielding his mask's orifices from the sun as he tried to look down to the forest in the distance. He cursed under his breath, the woods were too dense to see through. They'd have to go in blind.

The lanky man stood up, turning around to face the other four.

"Our Lord was right, the _fools_ only sent two adults." He declared rather excitedly, giggling a bit. However, his laughter suddenly stopped as if it had never begun, "But, we must not be rash. Surely their reinforcements are only a call away…"

One of the three figures to his left, which wore violet cloaks, took a step forward. Aside from the color of their robes, the rest of their appearance was identical to Loki's.

"We strike fast then," It said, "Fast and true, so that nobody can come save them!"

Loki approached the person, a male, and raised his hand slowly.

"That's…" He said, suddenly grabbing the shorter man by the neck and pulling him close to his body.

"THAT'S RIGHT, YOU BEAUTIFUL, SMART BASTARD!" Loki emphatically ruffled the imaginary hair at the top of the person's hood, "You truly are ready, all of you are! We will carry out the Lord's will and let the sinners know the meaning of PAIN and DESPAIR, and JUSTICE!"

"But…" Loki suddenly let go of the man, letting him fall to the ground face-first. "There is another here."

He turned towards Beowulf, who stood silent as a statue looking in the direction of the forest.

"Another whose devotion is not as strong as our own…" Loki walked over to the much taller man, pointing a finger straight at his mask-covered face. "A monster, nay, a BEAST who cares for naught but for violence!"

Loki's three disciples gasped in unison, as if they had just heard the most terrible news in the whole wide world.

The lanky man then clung to Beowulf's torso, tracing circles along his chest.

"Say, you…" Loki continued, whispering softly "You wouldn't endanger our mission, now, would you?"

"Hnn…" The mountain of a man grunted, his body still perfectly still.

Satisfied, Loki pushed himself off of him. The lanky man turned back towards the cliff-side and spread his arms around in a dramatic fashion.

"Rejoice, friends!" He proclaimed.

"Rejoice, for tonight, our Lord's will is made reality by our very hands!"

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_Next Time: Chapter 13 - Dance Under The Moonlight_

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**Finals are over so I can human again, at least for some time. **

**This took more time to write than I would have wanted it to take, but I like how it came out. I don't have much to say, quite frankly. If you're still reading this, please consider leaving a review to let me know your thoughts.  
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